


The Miraculous Spiderman Series

by GenieTheHobbyLobbyist



Series: The Miraculous Spiderman Series [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Miraculous Ladybug, Spiderman - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Completed, Crossover, Doesn’t follow canon, Eventual Smut, Everyone is aged up/down to 16, Fantasy Violence, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Just Boys Being Bros, Miraculous Ladybug - Freeform, Miraculous Spiderman, Multi, Paris - Freeform, Peter Parker / Adrien Agreste Friendship, Peter Parker gets a Miraculous, Peter can’t speak French, Phoenix Miraculous, References to French Language, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Spiderman / Ladybug / Chat Noir Friendship, Spideymiraculouscrossover, Superheroes, This is Escapism, Tony is still alive, master fu is still the guardian, original kwami character, peter goes to paris, potential Character Death, spiderman - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:48:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 216,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26153704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenieTheHobbyLobbyist/pseuds/GenieTheHobbyLobbyist
Summary: When Peter wins an all expenses paid trip to study abroad in Paris for a year, he jumps at the chance for a change of scenery. While staying at the Agreste mansion, Peter teams up with Ladybug and Chat Noir to help battle evil in Paris in hopes of taking down The Papillon who has been terrorizing the civilians. Things are only complicated further when Peter learns Chat Noir and Ladybug’s true identities and finds himself caught in their love square and has to navigate the new world of miraculous and akumas.Inspired by bubbly_washing_machine’s comics on instagram <3
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Ladybug/Chat Noir, Peter Parker/Bread
Series: The Miraculous Spiderman Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2125344
Comments: 215
Kudos: 273





	1. Porte-Bonheur de Paris

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the absolute train wreck that is this fic! It’s 50% a joke, 50% dead serious so take that however you want. Also sorry for any formatting errors, this is my first fic ever. Hope you enjoy!

“As you know, Midtown High prides itself in its focus of science and technology, and the immense effort…,” the principal droned on, and all Peter could do was list all the places he would rather be at that very moment than in the crowded auditorium with the rest of his school. It was a very long list, including, but not limited to: home, the Avengers headquarters, dead in a ditch, etc.

In fact, Peter had been entirely prepared to call it a day and dip before the assembly even began. Only, Ned hadn’t shared his enthusiasm.

“Come on, Peter, it’s just one assembly. Maybe this one will be important!” Peter didn’t know why Ned wanted to know who had won the Paris trip so badly. It wasn’t like either of them had entered. Midtown School of Science and Technology wasn’t one for giving out frivolous rewards to their top students; everyone was pretty equally intelligent. But once every ten years they held a contest, where the winner would get to spend an entire year in Paris, all expenses paid. All they had to do was come up with the most innovative idea, or the coolest invention, and then they’d be shipped off across the world on a trip of a lifetime. Peter could think of multiple inventions he’d developed in the last four months that would have made him a shoe-in for first place.

But he hadn’t applied.

As a member of the Avengers, he had to be available to fight evil at any given moment. Sure, Mr. Stark had never said that specifically, but Peter knew how to read between the lines. And if he left, who would protect New York? Besides the rest of the Avengers, of course.

Even if he had wanted to get out and explore the world, he was stuck there. And Peter was one hundred percent okay with that.

“And this year’s winner of the Paris Exchange Program is…,” Peter was brought back to earth by a harsh nudge in the rib cage, courtesy of Ned.

“What?” Peter hissed, scooting away from him.

“Are you even paying attention?” Ned whispered accusingly.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Principal Morita was making a big show out of opening an envelope and reading out the name. Peter resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He hoped someone like MJ got it. Someone who deserved it. Literally anyone other than Flash.

“Peter Parker!”

Peter jerked up at the mention of his name, his jaw dropping when he realized it came from the principal. Meaning…

“Dude!” Ned gripped him in a tight hug, having processed the situation far faster than Peter could have. He was still trying to figure out why everyone was staring at him, waiting expectantly.

“I won? I didn’t even enter!”

“I know! I entered for you! That experiment you did, something about quantum physics, the one you did with Scott Lang!” Ned pushed him into a standing position as applause swept the auditorium.

“What about the Stark internship? I can’t just leave New York!” Peter resisted as Ned also stood, pushing him through the row.

“Yes you can. Tony Stark is like, _the guy_. If he needs you, he’ll get you. Simple as that.”

Peter turned away from him to realize he was now standing at the foot of the stage. Another heartbeat later and the principal had helped pull him up into the spotlight to face his peers.

“Mr. Parker here will be changing places with a Parisian student named Max in what will surely be a learning experience for everyone!” Peter was barely clinging onto Principal Morita’s words as he said them, glancing down as a booklet was forced into his hands.

“Thank you, but I can’t-” Peter’s protests were cut off by another lengthy description of just how much Peter would _learn_ in another country, what great adventures he’d go on, all while he wished nothing more than for the floor to open and swallow him up.

“What were you thinking?” Peter raked his hands through his hair, pacing in front of Ned in his tiny apartment kitchen. “I can’t go to Paris!”

“You’re going to Paris?” Aunt May paused in her way in the door. “You won the contest?”

“Yes, I mean no! No I’m not going to Paris!” Peter paused, glaring between the both of them. “Were you in on this too, May?”

“Of course I was. I suggested it,” Aunt May said, settling next to Ned at the table, joining in on mocking Peter’s misery.

“You’re both the worst, you know that?” Peter sighed, leaning against the counter. He wanted to go to Paris, it was the opportunity of a lifetime, but he couldn’t just leave like that. Not when he’d worked so hard to become a member of the Avengers, worked so hard to go from just a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman to a recognized hero.

“I don’t see why you can’t just be Spiderman in Paris,” May said pointedly, crossing her arms.

“And you’re welcome, by the way.” Ned eyed Peter. “Everyone at that school would _kill_ to go on that trip.”

“So why don’t you go?” Peter asked, waving his arm at Ned.

“Because I don’t deserve it. And if you don’t go, then it’ll go to Flash. You know that.” Ned had a point, Peter hated to admit.

“Why don’t you just talk to Tony?” May suggested innocently. “I can tell you want to go, Peter. Don’t lie.”

“Fine,” Peter begrudgingly agreed. “I’ll talk to him, but I know he won’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Paris? That’s a great idea,” Tony Stark said, glancing at Peter over his computer screen.

“Really?” Peter couldn’t believe it. “You don’t want me sticking around just in case there’s… you know. Avengers stuff?” He dropped his voice a few volumes, looking around in case someone was listening.

“You’re at the Avengers headquarters, kid. I’m pretty sure everyone here knows you’re a part of the team.”

Peter brushed past his comment, but resolved to give it more thought later, (a part of the team!) instead focusing on what was really holding him back. “I’m just not sure if I’m ready to give up the suit for a whole year, Mr. Stark.”

Tony scoffed. “Give up the suit? Why on _earth_ would you think I’d make you give up the suit if you went to Paris? Nah, take the suit, you’ll need it.”

“Really?” Peter couldn’t believe his luck.

“Who knows, maybe you’ll meet some of Paris’s own superheroes. They’ve got a few, if I remember correctly. Also bug-themed, I think.” All of Iron Man’s attention had been returned to his computer.

“It says here I’ll be staying with some fashion designer…,” Peter flipped through his booklet. “Agreste? I think that was his name.”

“Yeah, very big over there,” Tony muttered distractedly, tapping something on the screen. “Try not to make an arse of yourself, whatever you do will inevitably reflect on me.”

“I’ll do my best, Mr. Stark.” Peter clutched his booklet to his chest, already excited about what the future would bring. Then one more thought occurred to him. “Wait, I don’t speak French.”

“Then I suggest you start studying,” Tony supplied. “Don’t you leave in a week?”

Peter’s last week at school was fairly uneventful. His excitement for Paris was only growing with each passing minute, and he’d begun researching the superheroes Tony had mentioned. He tried to keep it to a minimum at school, around his understandably jealous classmates, but Ned wasn’t making it easy.

“Okay, I found something,” he whispered in Peter’s last science class. “It says here their names are Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“Ladybug and black cat,” Peter replied thoughtfully, using the opportunity to show off his developing knowledge of the French language. “I wonder what they do.”

“I don’t know,” Ned said, scrolling on his phone. “There’s a ton of videos, but they’re all in French and I haven’t had the chance to watch them.”

“That’s alright,” Peter waved it off. “I’m sure I’ll wind up working with them, if trouble arises. Plus, they look young.” He peered at the photo Ned offered up. “Maybe we’ll become friends. Would be nice to know some superheroes my own age.”

“No offence, but you have a hard enough time making English friends. You don’t speak French at all.” Ned shot him a look.

“Gosh, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Peter said, leaning back in his chair. “Just to prove you wrong, I’m going to make a ton of friends. Superhero or not, I’m going to be the most popular boy in Paris.”

“If you say so, Peter.” Ned didn’t look convinced.

Peter triple checked everything on the morning of his departure, making sure he had everything. In truth, he kept worrying he was somehow forgetting his suit, as though it wasn’t in a top security briefcase in his carryon backpack.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” May said as she hugged him goodbye in the airport. “Call me every now and then so I know you’re not dead. That’s all I ask.”

“Try not to have too much fun without me,” Peter grinned, hugging her back just as tightly.

“Are you kidding, it’ll be like the good old days! Now hurry up, you’ll miss your flight.”

Peter rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to remind her he was two hours early, instead joining the queue.

“Bon voyage!” He heard her call after him as he gave her one last wave before disappearing beyond the entryway.

Even Tony had been thoughtful enough to wish him safe travels, in his own way of course. A singular aeroplane emoji, sent at 3 am that morning. Peter didn’t know Iron Man was an emoji user. Even still, he resisted the urge to screenshot it and send it to Ned. He didn’t need to fan girl over Tony Stark anymore, not since Tony was, well, his mentor. His father figure, if he dared say.

His suit didn’t raise any alarms, thanks to his briefcase’s special technology and Tony’s connections with the border guards, allowing Peter to pass through security easily before he was on the plane and en route to Paris.

Touching down in the Charles de Gaulle airport, Peter felt a slight tinge of anxiety. What if no one was waiting on the other side to pick him up? What if he was stranded in Paris, without a single clue of how to speak the language? What if-

All train of though was derailed as he noticed a lady in a crisp suit holding a sign with his name on it. She was tall, with glasses and side-swept hair. She seemed far too rigid to be any sort of fun whatsoever.

Gripping his suitcase, Peter wheeled it over to her, giving his best attempt at a friendly-yet-confident smile.

“Peter Parker?” She had an accent, as Peter should have expected, but it still through him off a bit, reminding him of just how different the capital of love was from the big apple.

“Uh, yeah?” He awkwardly shifted his bag, sticking out his hand so she could shake it.

“I’m Gabriel Agreste’s assistant, Nathalie. I’ll be overseeing all your affairs, as Mr. Agreste is a very busy man.”

“Yeah, of course,” Peter said, following her out of the airport and wondering just how long it would be before he could slip his suit on and explore the city. Perhaps it was best if Mr. Agreste was too busy to pay close attention. That would make it far easier for Peter to sneak out to do superhero business.

A sleek grey car was parked right outside the airport. Whoever this Mr. Agreste person was, he was definitely loaded, Peter thought as he lifted his suitcase into the trunk.

“You can put your backpack in there, too,” Nathalie said. Her words weren’t necessarily mean, she just had a cold, detached tone that made Peter want to shrivel up and hide.

“I’ll hang onto it.” He gave her a small smile, walking over to the door and opening it, sliding inside and nearly bumping into a blond boy.

“Oh, sorry.” Peter apologized, turning to face him. “I’ll go around the other side.”

The boy looked to be his age, with immaculately groomed blond hair, sparkling green eyes, and a boyish face. He looked vaguely familiar, but Peter couldn’t put his finger on it. And he was staring at Peter.

“Oh right, uh, French. Right.” Peter said as the boy unbuckled his seatbelt and slid down the row. Nathalie, unfazed, closed the door behind Peter as he climbed in and walked around to the driver’s seat, getting in and starting the car.

Peter cleared his throat, preparing to make a total fool of himself and simultaneously trying to recall the brief French sessions he’d had on Duolingo.

“Je m’appelle Peter. J’ai seize ans. Je suis Américain.” He gave the boy a smile, hoping he’d at least made some sense.

“Hello Peter, I’m Adrien Agreste.” Adrien’s English seemed to be just as tentative as Peter’s French, except for Peter had a sneaking suspicion that Adrien was going to turn out to be far more multilingual than him.

“You’re the fils of Gabriel Agreste, then?” Peter asked.

“Yes.” Adrien replied, almost deadpan. “We’re going to be… how you say? Housemates?”

“Housemates, yeah,” Peter said, digging in his bag for his briefcase. Oh so carefully, angling it so Adrien couldn’t see into his bag, Peter pulled out two small earpieces that Tony had included with the suit. He held it up so Adrien could see. “I’ve got a translator, I’ll put one in and give one to you and it’ll make everything you say sound English and everything I say sound French, at least until I learn the language.”

Peter didn’t want to cheat his way out of language learning, but he also wanted to connect with the boy sitting next to him. And so, they both put in their respective earpieces and Peter let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“So, tell me about you, Adrien Agreste. That sounds like a superhero name, Adrien Agreste.” Peter laughed slightly, and was surprised to see an odd expression flit across Adrien’s features, only for a split second before it was replaced with its previous serene expression.

“I could say the same for you, Peter Parker,” he said with a small smile. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m a model for my father’s brand, as well as a student like yourself. In my time outside of those activities, I play piano, fence, and learn Chinese.”

Peter noted the way he didn’t say ‘free time’. Adrien seemed rather reserved, and Peter couldn’t help wondering just how much say Mr. Agreste had in his son’s life. He was prepared to put money on ‘a lot’.

“I only started going to school last year. I was homeschooled before then. What about you?”

Homeschooled. That explained the slight social awkwardness, then. Peter could relate, although his was more from his nerdy tendencies than lack of human interaction.

“Uhhhh.” What could he say? He figured leading with, ‘I’m Spiderman and a part of the Avengers’ wouldn’t be the best icebreaker. “I go to a school for science and technology, and in my free time I intern for Tony Stark.”

That seemed to get Adrien to perk up. “Tony Stark? Iron Man? What’s he like.”

That was when Nathalie chose to interrupt. “Adrien, I doubt Peter has met Mr. Stark. You know what internships are like. And we’re home.”

Peter set the record straight before climbing out of the car, leaning in to whisper to Adrien. “I _have_ met Tony Stark, and he’s the coolest.”

Adrien grinned before climbing out and standing beside the car, waiting for Peter to soak in all his house’s glory.

If Peter hadn’t been used to Stark Towers and the new Avengers headquarters, he would’ve been blown away. But for now he was just very impressed. Adrien lived in a whole mansion, complete with a fence around the property and an iron wrought gate.

“Dude, are you rich?” He asked Adrien as a massive butler came out to help carry in Peter’s suitcase.

“We’re comfortable,” Adrien responded, rubbing the back of his neck.

“That’s something only a super rich guy would say,” Peter laughed. “I’ve got it,” he said to the straining bodyguard, lifting his own suitcase with ease. He may not show it off often, but his super strength was definitely there and working.

“I’m not _super_ rich,” Adrien said mock-defensively. “Saying that makes me sound like…I don’t know.”

“Like I douche, yeah, I get it,” Peter said.

“A shower?”

“What?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Adrien said, holding the door open for Peter.

“Thanks man, I- woah!” The Agreste house was like a museum. Everything was a light grey, smooth and ornate. A staircase that split into two was across from the doorway, and two wings on either side of the main floor lead off into different rooms, all with closed doors. Where the two staircases met into a landing stood a giant photo of a rather unhappy looking Adrien and a man with pale hair and a pointed jaw that Peter could only assume was Gabriel Agreste himself.

“Adrien, show Peter where he’ll be staying while I have the chef prepare dinner,” Nathalie said curtly.

“Alright, your room is up here,” Adrien said, leading him up the stairs and to the right. “Mine is right next door.”

Peter’s guest room was easily the size of the entire apartment he shared with May. Giant windows stretched along the furthest wall, letting in as much light as possible. A few plants decorated the space, with a computer setup opposite the windows that was composed of three monitors, two keyboards, and what looked like some wicked gaming equipment.

Even the room was two stories, with a sort of loft, his bed nestled in a corner with a flatscreen tv mounted across from it. Encyclopedias and classic literature adorned the bookshelves that lined the walls, and Peter couldn’t be more in heaven.

“Make it home,” Adrien said. “You’ll be here for the better part of a year, and my father isn’t big on excursions, so I think you’ll be spending a lot of time here.”

“Adrien, this is literally the most amazing place ever.” Peter parked his suitcase by the bed and flopped down on it. King sized, with memory foam mattress and the comfiest down comforter he’d ever felt.

“The bathroom is on the main level, it’s got a tub and a walk in shower,” Adrien explained, walking to another part of the loft that wrapped the corner of the room. “We got you an open closet sort of theme, so it’s got this bar here you hang things, some drawers…”

Adrien was walking Peter through the room, but all Peter could focus on was how goddamn comfy his bed was. Did he really have to suit up that night? He couldn’t remember the last time he had a full night’s sleep.

“Want to see my room?” Adrien’s question was probably the only thing that could have roused Peter from his place on the bed.

“Sure,” Peter said, quickly stashing his backpack in the corner. Preferably, he would’ve changed into his suit and kept it on under his clothes, but he didn’t want to act suspicious on his first night there.

Adrien’s room was somehow bigger than Peter’s, with a skateboard ramp, basketball net, piano, television, walls and walls of books and movies and generally everything Peter could ever want.

“If I lived here, I’d never set foot outside again.” Peter put his hands on his hips, staring out at the Paris skyline below him, shown in all its glory through Adrien’s window wall, the same as the one in Peter’s new crib.

“That makes one of us,” Adrien took a seat on his couch, looking past the tv and out the windows as well. “I spent all my life in this house, and when I wasn’t being kept here, I was modelling for my dad. It’s the life millions of kids would kill for, but it’s missing something, you know?”

And Peter did know. That ‘something’ was the same reason he always put on the spider suit. That ‘something’ was the reason he did what no one else in their right mind would dare do. That ‘something’ was larger than oneself, the desire to be a part of the bigger picture. Adrien had had a dream life with no school, but he’d also been incredibly lonely, Peter could tell.

His attention was captivated by another large photo, this time of a younger Adrien and a beautiful woman. She looked delicate, slender, more like Adrien. Peter didn’t realize he’d crossed the room to stare at the frame that hung on the wall until Adrien was beside him, also staring up.

“My mother,” he said by means of explanation. “She died two years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Peter said softly. “I know the feeling. Both my parents died when I was young. I lived with my aunt and uncle, but then my uncle died too. That one was my fault.”

He felt a light hand on his shoulder, and he glanced at Adrien, only to see his green eyes swimming with tears. “I’m sure it’s not your fault.”

“I said I was going to be somewhere, and he went to pick me up and I wasn’t there, because I was an idiot back then, I still am, and there was an accident and…he died. And I couldn’t save him.” Peter had to hold back his own tears. He wasn’t sure why he was telling this to a boy he had only just met. He’d never talked about Uncle Ben’s death to anyone. Not even Ned.

“I’m sorry,” he said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “You really didn’t need to hear all that. I wasn’t trying to one-up you or anything.”

“It’s good to talk about these things,” Adrien said, his voice laced with sympathy. “My mom got really sick, and the doctors couldn’t tell us why, but you could tell she wasn’t really there anymore. So when she did die, it was kind of like she was just going to sleep. We were all prepared for it. But my dad still doesn’t really go out much, and he’s very protective over me. I’m surprised he even let you stay here.”

Peter shrugged. “He probably wants to keep all the American shenanigans under his roof where he can keep an eye on it. I respect that. Is that a mini-fridge?” He allowed himself to be distracted from their shared trauma bonding, bending down to see what kind of drinks Adrien kept in his room.

“Cheese?” He turned around, holding up a small wedge.

“Yeah, it’s Camembert.” Adrien was suddenly looking anywhere but directly at Peter. “It’s a French thing, you know? Cheese is very good for the soul.”

“You’re going to have to get me on that,” Peter said, closing the mini-fridge and throwing the wedge into his mouth all in one go. “I want to learn all about French traditions.”

The cheese was one of the most disgusting things Peter had ever tasted. He was used to highly processed pizza cheese. This cheese was a texture Peter could only associate with a wet slug and it was not boding well. A very soft slug.

Just as he was prepared to throw up on Adrien’s rug, Nathalie came to save the day.

“Wash up for supper, boys,” was all she said before exiting the room once more, her posture as perfect as ever.

“I’ll go change out of my travel clothes,” Peter said, gesturing to the door. “Will M. Agreste be joining us for dinner?”

“Probably not,” Adrien said. “Usually it’s just me. I don’t think he’ll make a special appearance for you, unfortunately.”

“Nah, it’s cool. He seems low key scary.”

Adrien laughed. A real, genuine laugh. Peter hadn’t thought he would be capable of making that sound, but it warmed his heart to hear it. Adrien seemed like such a nice guy who had a really sad past, but Peter vowed to make sure his future was brighter.

Naturally as soon as he got back to his room he threw his suit on under a hoodie and jeans. As soon as dinner was done, he was planning on using the jet lag as an excuse to go to bed early, and that way he could get his exploring out of the way and get a good night’s sleep before the first day of school.

Dinner was some sort of rich people diet food, the main feature being quinoa. Just as Adrien had predicted, it was only the two of them, sitting at one end of a table that seemed much longer the more you focused on the empty chair at the end.

“This would be better with some bread,” Peter said, taking another swig of milk in attempt to wash down the tiny bits that stuck to his throat.

“I’m not allowed carbs; model’s diet,” Adrien said glumly, before leaning in and dropping his voice to a whisper. “But my friend’s parents own a bakery, and we can go there at lunch tomorrow and get the best bread you’ll ever have.”

“Promise?” Peter said.

“Promise.”

Throughout dinner, Adrien asked Peter questions about America, the school system there, and the Stark internship.

“Did you ever meet Spiderman?” That was the question Peter had been waiting for. It didn’t even catch him off guard.

“Yeah, he’s really nice. Really humble guy. Super strong too. Everyone wants to be like him. I mean, he’s not entirely based in New York, he’s been seen all over the world, so he’s a big shot now, I guess.” Peter resisted tooting his own horn _too_ much, but also why not exaggerate a tiny bit? What would Adrien know about superheroes? Plus he had to make a believable reason as to why Spiderman was suddenly in Paris at the same time as him.

“That reminds me,” Peter said, setting his fork down. “Mr- My aunt said you guys have your own superheroes here too?” He quickly glossed over his slip up, instead giving Adrien his undivided attention.

“Yeah, we’ve got Ladybug and Chat Noir, they’re our version of the friendly neighbourhood Spiderman, except there’s two of them and they weren’t bitten by a radioactive spider. They just have magic powers. I don’t know too much about it, but I just know they protect Paris from the bad guys. And Ladybug is literally amazing.” Adrien’s eyes got dreamy and Peter had to cough slightly to bring him back to the present.

“Sounds fun! Not to be a bad guest, but I’m feeling very jet lagged, super tired, and I think I should go to bed now!” Peter stood up quickly, having noticed it was getting dark outside.

“Uh, yeah! I’ll come wake you up tomorrow morning for school,” Adrien said, also standing. “I usually go to my room right after dinner anyways. If you need anything, you know where to find me!”

“Haha, yep.” Peter practically raced to his room, closing the door softly and pulling his outer clothes off.

The slight breeze that travelled through his suit and over his skin was a feeling Peter would never get tired of. The suit he’d brought was one he’d designed himself on Tony’s machines, and he couldn’t help but feel it gave it a more personal, understated touch. Sure the Iron Spider suit had been a dream, but it had also been so flashy, straying further from Peter’s roots.

He pulled tapped his wrist and his mask grew over his face, changing the way he could see the room, summaries of all the books popping into his vision, materials of the furniture, dollar signs, and Peter thought all of it away.

“First things first,” He whispered, stepping over to the computers. “Karen, any way we can project my desktop onto these guys?”

“Yes, Peter. I’ll get started on that,” his suit replied.

“Perfect. Second, I’m going to need you to be my translator tonight. Just, whenever I’m in the suit here. Can’t risk sounding too American.”

“Of course.”

“And third, it’s time to get acquainted with Paris.”

He walked over to the massive windows, all divided into their smaller segments, and carefully unlatched one, swinging it open. He didn’t have any qualms about swinging through Paris. He was surrounded by buildings, just like New York. It would be easy; same routine, just different setting.

Peter’s room was higher up than he’d expected, so the first swing was like a free fall that left his stomach back at the top. He would’ve cheered if he wasn’t at risk of being caught.

His obvious first stop was the Eiffel Tower, but at eight pm it was still busy and bustling with tourists, so he quickly vetoed that idea, instead finding a section of roofing where he could sit and admire it from afar. It was so peaceful up there, so far beyond the rest of civilization yet so close to it. There was a family below him, presumably, living their life without a care that he was on their roof, enjoying a kind of peace only a superhero knows how to appreciate.

That was, until he was disturbed.

“My Lady?” A male voice, and then a figure landed beside him. Peter turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Adrien Agreste, hair parted down the middle and messy, in a leather catsuit. His suit was obviously less tech-influenced than Peter’s, as his primary weapon seemed to be a metal baton, and the only thing protecting his identity was a black mask that covered the space around his eyes. The most absurd thing was the shiny bell at the top of Adrien’s skintight suit just under his chin. Peter had to resist the urge to reach out and ring it.

They both flinched in unison, and Peter was the first to recover. He realized that although he could easily tell this was Adrien, Adrien did not know that Peter was Spiderman. And he didn’t plan on letting him know.

“You must be Chat Noir.” It was odd saying one thing and hearing his own voice repeat it back in French, but here he was. Peter Parker was useless at French. That was one more thing securing his identity.

“And you’re Spiderman! I’m sorry, it’s just from far away you look a lot like-” Peter didn’t get to find out who he looked a lot like, although he suspected it was the owner of the polka dotted yoyo that had just wrapped itself around his waist.

“Back away from him, akuma!” A high-pitched voice called out before a girl dressed in a suit that was somehow even more form-fitting than Chat’s landed beside him. She was about Peter’s height, with two black ponytails and a red-with-black-polka-dots ensemble.

“Ladybug, he’s not akumatized, he’s Spiderman!” Peter didn’t know if Adrien was always this excited in costume or just really happy he was there, but nonetheless he found his energy infectious. Never mind the fact he had no idea what they were talking about.

“Spiderman?” She sounded dubious, peering at Peter from behind her small mask. “Prove it.”

“Uh…,” Peter looked to Chat for some kind of instruction. He just shrugged. “What kind of demonstration do you want?”

“You can swing from webs, can’t you?”

Peter sighed, standing up and firing a stream out, grabbing onto the end of it and swinging off the building before releasing his hold and doing a backflip, landing right back where he’d started.

“That’s so cool!” Chat Noir leaned against his metal baton, peering at Peter with adoring eyes. It was weird seeing Adrien’s face emoting so much. The boy in designer clothes had seemed much more reserved, borderline shy; the complete opposite of the superhero with a leather belt for a tail that stood in front of him now.

Ladybug seemed to have more on her mind, though, and Peter had to admit it did seem suspicious, having him suddenly appear in a previously Avenger-less city. “Aren’t you a part of the Avengers? Why are you _here_.” Peter gulped as she took a step closer, sizing him up.

“My Lady,” Chat said, baton disappearing behind him as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “This isn’t interrogation time. Spiderman is a hero, like us.”

“No, it’s fine,” Peter insisted, taking a seat on the cool roof. “Iron Man sent me. He’d heard you guys were having a lot of attacks and whatnot, and so he just kind of sent me to check in, see how it’s going. Plus, we’ve finally got one of his science and tech guys here for the next year, so I can hang out here and he can fix my suit if anything happens to it.” He smiled, before remembering they couldn’t really see it under his mask, so he did a thumbs-up instead.

“Well, we’ve got everything under control, so we don’t really need you here,” Ladybug crossed her arms over her chest.

“My Lady? Can I talk to you for a moment?” Chat Noir pulled her aside, and Peter couldn’t help but hear snippets of what they were saying, his hearing accentuated so the translator could pick everything up.

“Listen, Spiderman is a powerful ally to have. He could help us a lot against the Papillon.” It made Peter’s heart swell to hear Adrien defending him like that.

“Don’t you think it’s strange that he just…I don’t know. Showed up here? You know how the Avengers are, next thing you know they’re going to be fighting aliens in the middle of the city.” She had a point there.

“Spiderman’s not like that, you and I both know that. Plus, you brought all those people onto the team, like Rena Rouge, Carapace, you know. Count Spiderman as my contribution to the team. I’ll vouch for him to Master Fu, if I have to.”

This piqued Peter’s curiosity. Just how many superheroes were there in Paris? And who was Master Fu?

“Fine, chaton. But if he starts impeding on our ability to do our job, it’ll be your problem to deal with.”

“Have I ever let you down, Buginette?”

“Don’t call me that.” Ladybug was still rolling her eyes as the two of them walked back over to Peter who was doing his very best to pretend he hadn’t been listening to their entire conversation.

“Okay Spiderman,” Ladybug took a spot next to him on the roof, Chat following in suit. “We’ll do our best to sum everything up for you nice and neatly here.”

“Welcome to the team!” Chat beamed at him. “I managed to sway her using my _irresistible_ charm.” He shot Peter a wink, green eyes sparkling.

“What sort of ‘team’ are we talking about?” Peter glanced between them. “Like, just the two of you or…?”

“Just the two of us,” Ladybug said. “There are others who help us from time to time, but you don’t have to worry about that. I supposed we should start by explaining how our powers work.”

“That might be helpful,” Peter mused. “I’ll start, just to get mine out there. I have a feeling ours are a bit different. I was bitten by a spider, its DNA fused with mine, I got spider-like powers. No, I can’t control spiders, but I’m very…sticky? And I have a sort of sixth sense that helps with psychological awareness, sensing danger, all that. And to top it all off, I’ve got this sick suit with like a million different abilities, so there’s that.”

Chat Noir was gazing at him like he was their lord and saviour. “That’s literally the most awesome thing I’ve ever heard. Like, ever.”

“Our powers work differently,” Ladybug said, refusing to be captivated by Peter’s coolness. “We have our miraculous, which is special jewellery that house our kwamis, who are eons old magical beings. Our kwamis are what transform us and allow us to harness their powers; Chat Noir’s powers and mine go hand in hand, creation and destruction. Since our kwamis make up our suits and our powers but are still living, they get tired after doing magic, so usually after preforming our powers we detransform within five minutes.”

“Dang, that’s inconvenient,” Peter said before he could catch himself.

“It helps us not to overuse them,” Ladybug said with a small smile. “We keep our identities secret, even from each other, and we respect that boundary, so often one of us will distract the enemy while the other goes and feeds their kwami until they’re ready to transform again.”

“I’m going to guess that your miraculous is your earrings, and Chat Noir’s is his ring?” It was a safe guess. Neither of them were wearing any other jewellery, and Peter had noticed the large silver ring on Adrien’s hand earlier. Only now it was black, with a green paw print in the middle.

“Fast learner,” Chat said, leaning back to look up at the night sky. “If they get knocked off or taken, we detransform immediately. We keep them on our person at all times so they can’t get stolen behind our backs, and because our kwamis provide emotional support when they’re not working.” He laughed and Peter wondered what kind of emotional support an old magic being could provide. Maybe like Thor? Although Peter had never seen Thor as the sort to go to with his trivial problems.

“We’ll explain more next time,” Ladybug said, standing suddenly. “It’s getting late, and Chat and I have school tomorrow. We usually meet up for patrol on both weekends, as well as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, unless there’s an attack during the day. If there’s an attack, sometimes we skip patrol. It depends.”

“We usually meet in this spot, too,” Chat said. “Which is why I mistook you for Ladybug at first. You’re both just so gorgeous.”

“Chat, can you do me a favour?” Ladybug asked.

“Anything for My Lady.”

“Shut up.”

Peter shoved his laugh back down before it could come bubbling up at the sight of Chat’s disgruntled expression.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” he promised them. “Thanks for welcoming me to the team, guys. It’ll be good to have some superhero friends my own age.” He bid them goodnight, shooting off back to the Agreste mansion before Adrien could beat him to it.

Peter got ready for bed in record time, locking his suit back up in its briefcase and sliding under the covers on his bed with a sigh, sinking into the mountain of pillows. He could finally fall asleep without a care in the world, and he didn’t even notice as Adrien mistook the open window for the window of his own room, touching down and detransforming before realizing his mistake. Even if Peter had been conscious, it wouldn’t have been a surprise. After all, Chat Noir didn’t really look that different from model Adrien Agreste, and he supposed if it wasn’t for the difference in their personalities, more people would’ve caught onto the identity of the man behind the mask.

“Time to get up, Peter.” Adrien’s soft voice floated into Peter’s dreams, completely ruining the ongoing storyline and bringing him back to a reality where he would have to leave his glorious bed at some point in the very near future.

“I’ve decided I’ve surpassed the need for school,” Peter mumbled, pressing his face into his pillow harder, as if that would cause Adrien to disappear.

“If you drop out, you’ll have to go back home,” Adrien gently reminded him, before switching to French and Peter rolled over with a groan.

“Moi, je pas parle le French.” He sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Adrien laughed, before saying something more that Peter didn’t _quite_ understand but he got the gist of. Adrien was asking him what he was going to wear that day.

Most of the clothes he’d packed were hoodies and sweatshirts with a few t-shirts, mostly preparing for the fall weather. He presented his still-packed suitcase for Adrien’s approval, and judging by the blond’s expression, he did not pass inspection.

“I’ll say this in English so you can understand,” Adrien said slowly. “You’re representing the Agreste brand in part by being here, and you want to go out in a shirt that says ‘find x here it is’ on it? And so much flannel.”

“I like my pun shirts,” Peter said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. “They’re humorous.”

“No one is going to understand what they mean. You’ll just look dumb,” Adrien raised a slow eyebrow at Peter’s ‘I survived my trip to NYC <3’ shirt, the one he hadn’t thrown out since Tony had given it to him.

“Fair point, but I’m not really one for fashion.”

“Well, I am,” Adrien marched out of the room, coming back a few moments later with an armful of clothes. “Until we get your measurements you’ll have to wear my clothes. I’m a bit taller, but other than that we should fit about the same.”

Peter cast a quick glance at what Adrien was wearing, which seemed to be a hoodie and jeans awful similar to the ones he was telling Peter _not_ to wear. White hoodie, black skinny jeans, and he hated to admit it probably did look a lot better on Adrien than it would on Peter.

“How about a black turtleneck with this warm brown oversized box cut t-shirt overtop?” Adrien was saying words, and they were in English, but Peter was simply not understanding. “A simple light wash tapered jean will tie the whole thing up nicely, don’t you think?”

“Uh, yeah man. Sure.” Peter didn’t argue. A turtleneck meant he would be able to slip his spidey suit on underneath. While it wasn’t a necessity it was still a good precaution to have. Especially for his first day at a new school.

He was surprised to see that the fit Adrien had given him wasn’t bad at all. It definitely wasn’t Peter’s usual sort of style, but after he’d showered in the biggest shower he’d seen in his life and used ample helpings of the various hair and skin products laying around, he was feeling luxurious. His Walmart boxers and socks seemed scratchy compared to the soft material of the rest of Adrien’s clothes, gliding over his suit like water.

The boy who looked back at him in the mirror looked sophisticated, in control. Peter had to flash himself a quick smile just to remind himself who he was underneath all the glamour.

“Our feet aren’t the same size,” Adrien said by means of greeting at breakfast. Peter looked at him quizzically as he sat down with his bowl of oatmeal. At least the chef had tried to spice it up a bit by adding cinnamon and fruit to it, but all it did was remind Peter how much he couldn’t wait to go to the bakery Adrien had been talking about. He was also relieved to see Adrien had his translator in again. If only Peter could give one to the whole class.

“Okay?”

“I can’t give you any of my shoes to wear.” Adrien seemed legitimately torn up about it.

“It’s fine, I’ve still got my converse. They go with anything.”

“Do they?” Adrien said it as politely as possible, passing it off as an actual question, but Peter still laughed at the slight jab.

“Probably not in your opinion, but they’ll do. It’s not the end of the world.”

Adrien looked like he thought it was the end of the world as Peter pulled on his converse. He had to admit they’d seen better days, but they still kept his feet covered. Plus, he’d spent ages breaking them in to his liking, even going so far as to keep rocks in them when he wasn’t wearing them.

“Those things look like they were beat within an inch of death and you revived them through some sort of satanic ritual,” Adrien said honestly.

“I’m ready to go,” Peter said, tucking his laces into the sides of the shoes. “I doubt anyone’s going to be inspecting my feet too closely.”

“Those kind of draw the eye,” Adrien bantered as he held the door. Peter could see the tiniest bit of Chat Noir shining through Adrien’s mask, just enough to make Peter wonder who the real Adrien was. Although he knew from experience that sometimes anonymity was the only time he could be his real self, protected by his mask. Maybe it was the same for Adrien.

The same sleek car that had picked him up from the airport was sitting at the bottom of the steps, Adrien’s gigantic bodyguard already behind the wheel.

“Dude, isn’t the school like a five minute walk away?” Peter still got in the car, but the back of his mind was nagging him about environmental conservation.

“My dad insists,” Adrien said glumly, and Peter could tell it wasn’t the first time someone had brought it up.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s a valid point,” Adrien stared out the window at the passing students all headed on their way to class.

“Anyone I should avoid? Or anyone I should try and make friends with?” Peter figured it was best to get it out of the way to begin with. Even though Adrien didn’t seem like he’d be the type to gossip, Peter could tell if he said to avoid someone, he should avoid them like the plague.

“There used to be one girl, named Lila who was just…not very nice,” Adrien said slowly. Peter got his drift. ‘Not very nice’ by Adrien’s standards = raging bitch. “But she’s gone now. She got sent to a reform school in Russia.”

“That sounds fun,” Peter mused.

“I’ll introduce you to my friends before class. Nino’s fun, he’s a DJ in his spare time. His sort-of girlfriend Alya is also really cool. Not one to lie to anyone.”

“I can’t wait to meet them.” Peter shot Adrien what he hoped was a friendly smile but it probably came out more as awkward.

“They’ll love you, I’m sure. Fair warning, though, they don’t really speak English. Like, at all.”

“And I don’t speak French like, at all. Good thing you’ve got my other translator,” Peter said, pointing to the small bud in Adrien’s ear. He wished he could have his suit’s translator, but it only worked if his mask was on. The smaller version he’d shared with Adrien the day before was only meant to work between the two of them.

“Don’t worry, we’ll sit together in class and I’ll help you,” Adrien smiled at him as they climbed out the car, headed towards the school. It was slightly smaller than Peter’s school, with fewer students milling around. There was a basketball instead of a courtyard in the middle, and it seemed to be the hangout spot before class.

“Adrien! Hey mec!” A boy in a red baseball cap, thick rimmed glasses and a worn blue t-shirt walked up to them, exchanging a handshake with Adrien. Unsure of what to do, Peter stood behind Adrien awkwardly, playing with the straps on his backpack.

“Nino, this is Peter, the American exchange student who swapped places with Max,” Adrien said, Peter’s translator allowing him to pick up on Adrien’s fast French. “He doesn’t speak much French yet, but we’ve got a shared translator that lets us understand each other, but it won’t work for you or the others. So, uh, speak slow.”

Nino did not seem capable of speaking slowly as he held out his hand for a fist bump, spouting off words Peter had never even heard of.

“Uh…,” he glanced at Adrien for help, and Adrien unhelpfully shrugged.

“He’s just saying he’s glad to have you here.”

“Toi aussi,” Peter said. “Je suis désolé, je seule comprends un peu?” He said the statement like a question, unsure of whether or not he’d even properly told Nino he had no idea what he was saying.

“C’est OK! Je ne parle pas l’anglais non plus!” Nino said. Peter just blinked at him, then at Adrien, letting out a nervous laugh before they were interrupted by the arrival of two girls.

“Okay,” Adrien said to Peter in English and it made Peter feel like they were whispering. Not because they were talking quietly, but because whatever Adrien was about to tell him would not be understood by the other members of the group. “That’s Alya Césaire, Nino’s not-really girlfriend, don’t mention it. And that’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the friend I was talking about whose parents own a bakery.”

Peter nodded, but he was too distracted by the fact that he’d definitely met Marinette before. Last night, actually. She seemed more shy in her civilian attire, and she was blushing as Adrien smiled at her, but there was no mistaking those ponytails and dazzling blue eyes. Marinette was Ladybug. And judging by the adoring look she was giving Adrien, she had no idea he was actually her superhero counterpart.

“This is going to be interesting,” Peter muttered.

“What?” Adrien said.

“Nothing.” Peter allowed himself to be introduced to Alya and Marinette, giving them both bright smiles.

Marinette said something to him, and Adrien seamlessly translated for him. “She likes your outfit.”

“Can you tell her thanks for me?”

“You can try,” Adrien said, stepping back from him a bit.

Peter most certainly did not want to try, but he gave it his best foot forwards, saying, “Merci, Adrien a choisi

“Good job, man!” Adrien clapped him on the back as the bell rung. “You’re getting the hang of it already.”

“Sure doesn’t feel that way,” Peter mumbled as they joined the queue of students heading to class, all talking amongst themselves. He was feeling rather out of place and awkward in the unfamiliar environment, and he wouldn’t even be able to ask for help if him and Adrien got separated.

Like Adrien could read his mind, he pulled out his phone. “Let’s swap numbers in case something happens,” he said, handing Peter his top-of-the-line smartphone. Peter passed him his own significantly less pristine phone, punching his number into Adrien’s contacts.

“There you go,” Peter said, handing Adrien his phone back. “What’s our first class?”

“Madame Bustier’s class. She teaches everything except science and gym, so we spend most of our day there. Also, I’ll give Nino my translator so you two can talk. I can pretty much understand English now, I was just a bit rusty before.”

Peter wished he was only a bit rusty at French, not completely uneducated, but nodded along nonetheless as they entered the classroom. Instead of desks they had rows of tables with benches divided into two halves with an aisle down the middle, most of the spots already occupied by students. Nino was seated in the front row on the side closest to the door, in front of Marinette and Alya.

“This is where I usually sit,” Adrien said, sliding in. “I’ll give you the aisle seat. Normally it’s only two people per table, but I’m sure this is an exception.”

A red haired woman with kind eyes approached them, handing Peter a tablet and a stylus. “Welcome to my class, Mr. Parker. I’m Madame Bustier, and I’ll be your teacher.”

Peter breathed a small sigh of relief at her English abilities, impressed with the amount of people who seemed to have at least a baseline understanding of the language, and he felt bad for not knowing more French.

“We do all our work on the tablet,” Adrien said. “That way there’s no paper waste.”

“That’s awesome,” Peter said. “Thanks for having me, I’m not very good at French yet, so I’ll take whatever opportunity I can get to learn.”

Mme. Bustier smiled at him before going to adjust something on her desk at the front of the room.

“Qui êtes-vous?” A hand slammed itself down on the table in front of Peter and he flinched, turning to find the owner of the hand was a blond girl with a snobby expression.

Adrien calmly explained something to her in French, and Peter realized he’d already given the translator to Nino when he couldn’t understand any more of the explanation other than his name.

“That’s Chloe,” Nino leaned across the table to talk to Adrien as the girl returned to her place, satisfied with whatever Adrien had said to her. “She’s the daughter of the mayor and she has some sort of narcissistic personality disorder. Her and Adrien have been friends since they were kids, though, so he’s still nice to her for whatever reason.”

“I’m sitting right here!” Adrien said, repeating it in both French and English so both Nino and Peter could laugh.

Then a delicate hand tapped on Peter’s shoulder and he turned around to find Marinette leaning towards him, holding out her phone. It was open to the google translate app, and it read, “don’t let Chloe bother you, she has a habit of treating people like doormats”.

Peter raised an eyebrow at her, taking her phone and typing a quick response. “Don’t worry, she’s not the first bully I’ve ever faced.”

Marinette read his reply before shooting him a nod, apparently satisfied he wasn’t going to get stomped all over on his first day. He could see the similarities between her and her alter ego already, and he hadn’t even really had a proper conversation with her.

Madame Bustier was now addressing the class, and Peter could understand a good portion of it, a fact that boosted his ego considerably. She outlined their day plan, then gestured to Peter, explaining who he was. He gave a shy wave to the class, then realized she’d asked him a question and he had no idea what it was.

“Do you want to say a bit about yourself to the class?” Adrien whispered to him.

“Not really, but I’ll try,” Peter whispered back. “Uh, salut, je suis Peter Parker, j’habite Queens, New York, j’aime Star Wars et science, et je travaille pour Stark Industries?” He knew he’d messed up a fair bit and probably sounded like a small child learning to talk, but everyone in the class was nodding encouragingly. Everyone except Chloe, that was.

She was snickering, doing a poor attempt at hiding it behind her hand. Peter turned away with a sigh, staring down at his tablet screen as the lesson begun. At least he’d tried, hadn’t he?

They were reading Romeo and Juliet, a play Peter had read the year before for advanced English class, and he still remembered the story well enough to answer questions the teacher asked and have Adrien translate for him. However, no matter what he said, he could still see Chloe whispering snide remarks to the girl sitting next to her. He was trying not to let it get to him, but he knew he was probably way smarter than Chloe, yet here she was, mocking him for it. At least Flash had a few brain cells. Chloe was just wasting his time.

“Do you want me to say something?” Adrien whispered. “I can tell she’s bothering you and it’s not cool.”

“It’s fine. It’s just I know she’s not whispering compliments to that girl beside her. I don’t know why it’s bothering me so much, but just give me a minute and it’ll be fine.” Peter aggressively poked his tablet with the stylus. “Once we get through this, we can go to the bakery and that’ll make up for everything.” He managed a smile, and Adrien reciprocated.

With every intent on just focusing on his work, Peter returned his attention once more to the small screen in front of him, blocking everything else out, including his spidey senses. Which is why he didn’t notice the small purple and black butterfly preparing to land on his stylus. And he didn’t register his classmates’ gasps before it was too late.


	2. Le Premier Akuma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spiderman meets the Papillon and battles his first akuma, Chat Noir gets his ass handed to him, and Adrien and Peter have an evening out on the town that Gabriel would NOT approve of. Oh, and Peter falls in love with bread.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s chapter two!! Tysm to everyone who commented/left kudos on the last chapter!

“Languedefeu, I am Le Papillon.” Peter stared at the masked man who was speaking to him. He didn’t know where he was. One moment he’d been in class, the next moment that butterfly had landed on his stylus and now he was face to face with a man who was dressed in a purple suit and a silver mask that covered everything except his mouth. He’d never seen someone who was so obviously the bad guy in his life. They were standing in a dark room, just the two of them, on a bridge. Peter quickly glanced over the side. It was a long way down, and he couldn’t see what was at the bottom.

“My name’s Peter. Not tongue fire or whatever you said.” Peter did his best to strengthen his resolve, staring at the tall man with determination.

“No.” Papillon stated simply. “Now, I understand that learning languages can be hard, especially when others put your down when you’re doing your best. With my power, you’ll be able to speak any language you want, fluently, and later you’ll return the favour when the time comes. What do you say?”

Peter returned the same deadpanned words Papillon had used on him. “No.”

“No?” The masked villain seemed confused, like no one had ever refused him before. A sudden pressure closed around Peter, gripping tighter as Papillon scowled. “I could give you anything you want, beyond your wildest dreams, only for the smallest of favours in return.”

“There’s only one thing I want, and you can’t give it to me,” Peter said. “No one can. Just stop this.”

“I _will_ have my miraculous!” Papillon bellowed, and the crushing sensation became unbearable.

 _This isn’t real_ , Peter’s subconscious told him. His eyes were telling him he was alone in a dark room with the villain but his spidey senses were telling a different story. He could sense the table in front of him, back in the classroom, he could sense Adrien beside him, the other classmates running around screaming.

“Sorry Mr. Butterfly, but I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong guy to get help executing your evil plans,” Peter stated simply. “I don’t make deals with the devil.” And with that he ran towards the edge of the bridge. Papillon cried out, an arm outstretched to stop him, but Peter was already falling off the edge, the darkness consuming him as he waited to hit the bottom. Only the ground never came.

He jolted right back up in the classroom and the butterfly flew out of his stylus before combusting right in front of him, turning to ash that settled itself on his desk. Everyone stopped their panic, just staring at him.

“How did you…?” Adrien couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the dark pile on the table in front of them.

The bell rung for lunch and Peter had never been more glad to leave a classroom. Everyone was whispering amongst themselves, all looking at Peter like he’d grown a third arm.

“That was so weird,” Peter said as they walked to the bakery together. It was only a five minute walk from the school, Adrien had informed him, but obviously they had more pressing matters to talk about.

“I’ve never seen someone resist an akuma.” Adrien looked thoughtful. “I didn’t think it was even possible.”

“It was some guy, offering to give me ‘whatever I wanted’,” Peter laughed. “He also tried to squeeze the living daylights out of me, but I escaped.”

“Okay but _how_ did you escape? We could hear everything you were saying and I thought he was going to kill you!”

“How would he have been able to kill me? It was just an illusion,” Peter said as they reached the bakery, pausing just outside the door. “We were on a bridge, so I simply jumped off the side.”

“You weren’t scared of dying?” Adrien looked incredulous.

“I’ve been told I’m a difficult person to kill,” Peter said, opening the door and walking into the bakery.

It was the best smelling place he’d ever been in. Pastries lined the wall, display cakes sat in the window, a bread wall housed loaf after loaf of bread, and a glass counter at the front contained macarons and éclairs and everything good in life. Peter was in heaven.

Adrien finally stopped giving him questioning glances and offered up a greeting to the two adults behind the counter. Marinette’s parents, Peter realized. He could see the resemblance as he inspected the sort of people who raised Ladybug.

“Peter? What do you want?” Adrien asked.

“Literally everything,” Peter sighed, grabbing a loaf of bread. “I’ve got to stock up since apparently your dad has made it his life mission to starve us. Like an opposite Hansel and Gretel.”

Adrien laughed. “We’ve got to carry it back to school, so you’ll have to narrow it down a bit.”

Peter rolled his eyes in mock annoyance as he managed to select enough carbs to fill two bags, brushing off Adrien’s offer to pay. “My school gave me a substantial daily allowance that I’m not going to let go to waste.”

He left the shop with his hands full and his heart happy with the promise of sinking his teeth into some delicious bread. They returned to the school, taking a seat on the front steps before Peter opened the first bag, spreading out the choices between him and Adrien.

“Cinnamon rolls? Macarons? Éclairs? What will Mr. Agreste choose?” Peter did his best impression of the peddler from Aladdin. Adrien gave him an odd look before reaching for a cinnamon bun.

“You’re Robin Williams now?”

“Aha! You’re a Disney fan too!” Peter pointed at him. “We’ve gotta watch some together sometime.”

“How about tomorrow night?” Adrien offered. Peter bit back a grin, knowing perfectly well why he didn’t schedule it for that night. Patrol with Ladybug and Spiderman obviously took precedent.

“Sure,” Peter agreed, bumping his éclair against Adrien’s cinnamon bun. “I should call my aunt.”

“Isn’t it like, six am over there?”

“Same difference,” Peter shrugged, pulling his phone out and opening a video call with May.

“Peter!” She answered on the third ring. “It’s so early.”

“Yeah, well it’s noon over here,” Peter said. “I just went to the bakery with my friend Adrien to get some lunch.” He turned the phone so Adrien could wave.

“Oh I know you! You’re that model boy,” May mumbled, rubbing her eyes. “Aren’t you the son of the guy Peter’s staying with?”

“That’s me,” Adrien said shyly.

“Anyways I was just calling to say hi! Sorry for waking you up so early!” Peter said. It was either he called her now to let her know he was still alive, or she would’ve called him angry later, going on about worrying her. 

“Don’t forget to call To-”

“Yep! I won’t! Thanks May!” Peter hastily ended the conversation before she could get Tony’s name out. As far as Adrien knew, Peter was simply an intern at Stark Industries, and that’s all Adrien would get to know for now. Peter had a habit of keeping his identity secret unless he somehow messed up so badly he wound up revealing himself in front of them.

Still he felt a teensy bit guilty knowing both Chat Noir and Ladybug’s identities, but that wasn’t really his fault. They looked the exact same either way. He was honestly just surprised that no one else had noticed and called them out on it yet.

“So, what’s an akuma?” Peter asked innocently.

Adrien sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s that butterfly you saw earlier. Usually they find someone feeling a negative emotion and possess them. They come from the supervillain Papillon who’s got a miraculous or something like that. Anyways he’s got powers so he can turn whoever he akumatizes into a supervillain too. Whatever object the akuma butterfly lands on is what gives the akumatized victim their powers and allows them to wreck havoc on Paris. When Ladybug and Chat Noir show up, they have to find the object and break it, cuz that releases the butterfly and then Ladybug purifies it with her yoyo or whatever. I don’t know too much about it.”

 _Liar,_ Peter thought, but out loud he said, “that’s crazy. So I almost got possessed today?”

“Guess so,” Adrien said. “But you’ve got such strong resolve it literally dissolved the butterfly. I don’t think that’s ever happened before, which is why everyone was staring at you like that. Especially since most of them have been akumatized at some point.”

“Even you?” Peter glanced at him, curious to know if even the superheroes could be akumatized.

“No, I guess I’m just really good at hiding my emotions,” Adrien said. “But my akumatized bodyguard did drop me off a skyscraper one time if that counts.”

“How are you not dead?”

“Ladybug caught me. She told me to trust her and I did and she saved me. I knew she would.” Was Adrien…blushing?

“So you’ve really got it bad for this Ladybug chick, huh?” Peter said, biting into a macaron.

“I understand all those words separately,” Adrien said, tilting his head in confusion.

“You’re in love with her,” Peter simplified.

“I mean, who isn’t?” Adrien gushed. “She’s strong, smart, creative, beautiful, and everything anyone wants to be.”

“She sounds like one hell of a girl,” Peter agreed, packing up his lunch. “I hope I get to see her in action one day.”

“You will,” Adrien promised. “And when you do, you’ll be blown away at how _powerful_ she is. It’s like being punched in the face, but in a good way.”

“I don’t see how being punched in the face is a good thing ever,” Peter remarked. “But I’ll take your word for it.”

“Are you ready to head back to class? I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable at all or anything after the whole akuma thing.” Adrien said, glancing at Peter with a worried expression. “I know how it feels to get unwanted attention.”

 _Tell me about it,_ Peter thought, but out loud he said, “no, it’s all good. Really, if akuma attacks are as common as you’ve made it out to be, they’ve probably all moved past it by now.”

And that seemed to be the case. Besides a few sideways glances, Peter was pretty much left to his own as they headed to the locker rooms to change for gym class. That was when Peter realized he’d forgotten something rather important.

“I’m going to change in the stall,” Peter said, gesturing to the bathroom.

“We’re all boys here,” Nino said, getting his use out of the translator. “I mean, if I had a dollar for every time I saw something I’d rather people kept private, I’d be a millionaire by now. No matter what you got going on, we’ve seen it all before.”

Peter could almost guarantee no one had ever pulled off their clothes to reveal a fully functioning Spiderman suit. “Uh….”

“Nino!” Adrien said. “Don’t mind him, Peter you can change wherever you want.”

Giving an awkward nod, Peter walked into the bathroom, locking the stall door behind him as he pulled off Adrien’s clothes, stuffing them in his backpack before staring down at his costumed body.

“Okay,” he breathed, uncertain of why he was so nervous. He never wore the spidey suit at Midtown, but then again there hadn’t been the constant threat of a supervillain attacking there. Plus, it gave him that extra confidence boost, even if no one could see it. Shutting his eyes before he could overthink, Peter pressed his hand to the centre of his chest, feeling the suit loosen around him so he could remove it.

After pulling on his old Midtown High gym clothes, he stuffed his suit as far down in the bag as he could, hiding it beneath all his other layers. Deeming his attempt at hiding it satisfactory, Peter slung his bag across his back, rejoining the others.

“Here, you can stick your bag in my locker,” Nino offered, waving to his already nearly-stuffed locker.

“None of these have locks on them,” Peter observed, glancing around. “Anyone could come in and take your stuff.”

“Yeah, but they don’t,” Nino said. “Why? Are you hiding some sort of spy equipment in there or something?”

“What?” Peter felt his face grow hot. “No!”

“It was just a joke, don’t take it seriously,” Nino said, slinging an arm across Peter’s shoulders. “Now, let’s go see how good you are at dodgeball.”

Peter was the best at dodgeball, it turned out. After three rounds he was still the undefeated champion, and Nino was pretending to be annoyed with him.

“It’s not my fault you were the first one out every round,” Peter laughed, tossing a ball between his hands as they took a water break.

“Yes, yes it is! You always hit me!” Nino said, gulping down water despite the fact he’d sat on the bench for most of the game.

“I have an idea,” Adrien said. “Everyone in the class versus Peter.” He repeated his idea to Nino, who got a wicked gleam in his eye.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Peter watched with amusement as they approached the gym teacher to give their pitch. He seemed to agree, nodding before calling the class back together.

“I hope you’re ready to get your ass beat, Parker,” Nino said as the gym teacher explained the rules.

“I’ll prepare when you actually last longer than a minute in the game,” Peter remarked.

Their group disbanded, the class heading to one half of the gym while Peter walked to the other, watching as the teacher lined the dodgeballs up along the centre line. He’d been a little surprised thus far at how easily he’d beaten Marinette and Adrien, although he supposed their strength and agility was mostly from their…what were they called? Kimmies?

One of the other students, Kim, seemed to be very competitive and so far hadn’t been taking his losses well. So naturally, Peter picked him as his first target as the teacher counted down from ten.

“Allez!” And Peter was off like a rocket, snatching a ball from the centre and leaping away from the students that rushed towards it. Dodging their attempts to hit him, he wound up and released his ball, smacking Kim straight in the chest. Bullseye.

He barely had time to relish the boy’s exasperated groan as he caught several more balls that seemed determined to hit him, flinging them back at his assailants. Before long, it was down to just him vs. the two superheroes themselves. Peter stood politely, waiting for them to make the first move, and Adrien waved Marinette over, probably to discuss strategy.

Peter watched her cheeks colour as Adrien whispered to her, pointing at various spots around the gym as he created their battle plan. He really didn’t need to whisper. Chances are Peter wouldn’t have a clue what he was saying even if he wrote it out for him.

“I’m waiting!” He called, and Marinette flinched, looking at him with wide eyes as she scurried forwards, grabbing a ball as she went. Peter only had one ball on his side, so he had to use it wisely. Without warning, Marinette whipped the ball towards him, and it seemed like time slowed for Peter as he took careful aim with his own ball, calculating the physics in his head. At the perfect moment he threw his ball, connecting with hers in the air and letting out a loud thud. Both balls landed on his side, rolling back towards him.

He’d been so focused, he almost hadn’t noticed Adrien throwing another ball at him. Almost. As soon as he’d intercepted Marinette he leapt into the air, grabbing Adrien’s ball with ease.

“Ha! You’re out!” Peter said with glee. Adrien playfully rolled his eyes and took a seat on the sidelines to watch the remainder of the match. Now that he had plenty ammunition, Peter threw the first ball pretty hard to where Marinette was standing. Predictably, she ran away, and Peter through his second and third balls, finally hitting her in the leg.

A handful of his classmates let out a cheer, the rest applauding politely. Peter waved awkwardly, joining Adrien and Nino as they left the gym, headed back to the locker room.

“How do you do that, bro?” Nino asked. Peter just shrugged.

“I have good reflexes, I guess. I’ve always been good at dodgeball.”

“Well, I call dibs on having you on all my teams for the rest of the year,” Adrien said. Just then, an explosion rocked the building.

“What was that?” Nino asked, sounding slightly panicked.

“Probably an akuma! Run!” Adrien said, turning to run away from the locker rooms.

“I need my bag!” Peter said.

“You can come back for it!” Nino yelled, already tearing away. Peter couldn’t explain to either of them why he very well couldn’t come back for it later, and instead ran away from them, into the locker room, throwing open lockers at random until he found his bag.

“Come on,” he muttered, stripping out of his gym clothes and pulling on the spidey suit as fast as possible. He threw his remaining clothes back into the bag, stuffing it back in the locker and pressing the centre of his chest. The suit shrunk back to his skin, his web shooters landing snugly in the palms of his hands.

“Ok, mask, gloves, and boots on,” Peter said, as he ran towards the door, throwing it open as his mask grew over his face, replacing Peter Parker’s face with Spiderman’s far more recognizable one. Now fully covered, he shot a web up and out at the courtyard, swinging away from the now-evacuated school. He didn’t have to look hard for the target, as he soon saw an explosion in the distance that made the Eiffel Tower sway.

Peter swung as fast as he possibly could, reaching the site only seconds later, touching down beside Ladybug.

“Where’s Chat Noir?” She asked, yelling over the booming sounds.

“On his way,” Peter yelled back, taking a good look at their opponent. A child, perched atop a large paper aeroplane, zipped around, lobbing multi-coloured explosives at the civilians below.

“Okay, evacuate the area,” Peter said, shooting a web towards the Eiffel Tower, sticking it to the peak. “I’ll distract it.”

He pulled slightly and then he was off, swinging into the air, landing nimbly at the very top. It was a long way down, higher than the Washington monument had been. But this time there was a lot less pressure. I mean sure, there was a child flying on what looked like a pretty flimsy excuse for a levitation device, throwing explosives at civilians, but at least no one was at risk of plummeting to their death this time, right?

Carefully aiming, Peter shot a web at the child, attaching himself to it. Just as he thought, _well that was easy,_ and pulled, the child threw an explosive at him and rocketed off. Dodging, Peter was thrown off balance and unprepared for the sudden pull of his web in his hand and he went flying off the tower, clutching on for dear life as the child haphazardly flew through the air. He could hear it cackling manically.

“It’s a nice day for kite flying,” Peter heard someone remark and he turned his head, unsurprised to see Chat Noir following him closely, using his baton to propel himself through the air.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a paper aeroplane,” Peter sighed, letting go and flipping down to the ground, landing nimbly. Chat descended next to him, riding his baton down like a fire pole.

“Well then, I’d say that’s our akumatized object, then. What do you think, My Lady?” Peter hadn’t even noticed Ladybug landing beside them until Chat addressed her. She was sneaky, Peter would have to remember.

“The thing it’s riding on? I thought so too. It’s way too specific for the Papillon to have just come up with it on their own.” Ladybug agreed. “I guess it’s time for this, then.”

She grabbed her yoyo, throwing it up into the air and yelled, “lucky charm!”

Peter cocked an eyebrow, shooting Chat a questioning glance, but he was transfixed, watching as an item fell from the sky and into Ladybug’s waiting hands. When she’d said ‘lucky charm’ he’d been waiting for some real magic to happen, but instead what she held in her hands was a-

“A hose?” Chat Noir voiced Peter’s disbelief. “Okay, you figure out what to do with that, Spiderman and I will try and hold him off for now.”

Ladybug began looking around, and Peter whispered to Chat, “what was that?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, you got a plan?”

Did Peter have a plan? This villain was a bit different than what he was used to. Before he could think, however, an explosive landed at their feet, detonating and sending them both flying.

“Ow,” Peter said, gingerly getting to his feet again, shaking off the impact. Chat Noir looked a bit worse for wear, and he was still laying where he’d landed, groaning.

Looked like Peter was on his own.

“Okay, Karen,” he spoke to his suit. “I’m going to need a web net. Just one, then back to default shooters. Let’s get this goblin.”

He ran after the flying figure and jumped, firing his net into the air. Just as he’d hoped, it caught the little monster just before it could throw another explosive at Ladybug, who had hooked her hose up to a tap and was pointing it at them. Spiderman got her drift, shooting a web out to the Eiffel Tower and pulling both himself and the straining supervillain in towards her.

Once they were in range, Ladybug cranked on the water, soaking through the paper aeroplane and Peter watched as it dissolved, a purple and black butterfly flying away from it. Ladybug pulled her yoyo out and nabbed the butterfly, locking it inside, before saying something Peter didn’t catch and releasing a white butterfly in turn.

The kid, who’d had some sort of wonky green costume on faded away in black and purple bubbles in front of Peter, turning back into a young child, around six or seven, in Peter’s net. He lowered them both to the ground, pulling the net off.

“What happened?” The kid asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Peter replied.

“Are you Spiderman?”

“Sometimes,” Peter responded with a cheeky grin the child couldn’t see, handing the kid off to a paramedic who was waiting to check him out.

“Is that it?” He asked, turning to Ladybug.

“Almost,” she said, hoisting the hose up into the air. “Just gotta- miraculous ladybug!”

Peter watched in amazement as the lucky charm exploded into a swarm of ladybugs that surrounded the area, fixing all the damage the akumatized child had done. “I need one of those,” he said, letting out a low whistle.

“Where’s Chat?”

“What?” Peter glanced around, before realizing that Chat was still laying where he’d fallen. “Chat!” He raced over, scooping up the blond boy.

“Oh my god, is he okay?” Ladybug asked, but when Peter tried to answer he was cut off by a loud beep.

“What was that?”

“My miraculous. My time is running out before I detransform.” Worry creased Ladybug’s brow as she knelt beside Chat.

Peter had his suit do a quick diagnosis of Chat. “He should be fine, just a bit bruised. You go, I’ll take care of him.”

Reporters were starting to creep into the area as Ladybug’s earrings let out another beep. She gave Peter a look. She didn’t want to leave Chat Noir with him, he could tell. But she didn’t really have a choice. “Don’t let anything happen to him. He didn’t use his cataclysm, so he should be in suit for a little while longer.”

Peter didn’t know what cataclysm meant in this context, but he assumed it was like Ladybug’s lucky charm. “Do you have any sort of communication thing as Ladybug?”

She frowned. “My yoyo and Chat’s baton are linked up, so we can call each other when we’re suited up, but that doesn’t really extend to anyone else. We can call people, but they can’t call us, you know?”

“Gimme the yoyo,” Peter gestured and she slid it open and handed it to him. “Establish a connection,” Peter said to his suit, pressing his finger against it. There was a loud chirp and he handed the yoyo back to her. “We’ll try that.”

“Thanks, Spiderman.” She gave him a tentative smile, glancing down at Chat one last time before swinging away. Peter gathered Chat up in his arms, ignoring Chat’s semi-conscious groan of protest and blindly shot a web out.

They landed somewhere behind the school. Peter didn’t think bringing Adrien back to his house was a good idea, and he couldn’t think of anywhere else that might be secure. So for now he laid the boy down on the grass, watching him breath slowly. Quietly, Peter slipped back into the school, scouring for a first aid kid. It didn’t take him long to find, and within a minute or two he was back by Adrien’s side, cracking the instant cold pack in his hands and pressing it to Chat’s rib cage.

“Spiderman?” Adrien croaked, eyes half open. “What happened?”

“You got hit with an explosive. Knocked you up pretty bad.” Peter helped him sit up, handing him the ice pack. “You’ve just got some bruising; you’ll probably be sore for a few days.”

“Where’s Ladybug?”

“She left, but I might be able to contact her. Let me try.” Peter pulled up his message box, shooting one off to Ladybug.

 _Chat is fine. Asking where you are._ He watched it translate itself into French, Karen still dutifully following his orders.

It was only a few heartbeats before her reply scrolled across his vision.

_I can’t come back, but tell him I hope he gets better._

“She can’t come back, but she hopes you get better,” he relayed to Chat.

“Tell her I’d feel so much better if she came nurtured me back to health by taking me to go get ice cream.”

“No.” Peter laughed. “You’re feeling better already, see.”

“But I’d feel _so_ much better if she were here.”

“If she was here, she’d smack you,” Peter said. He didn’t really know if she would, but based off the dynamic he’d seen so far, he wouldn’t put it past her.

“Fair enough,” Chat shrugged, standing up.

“Need anything else?” Peter asked.

“Nah, I’ll be alright,” Chat cracked his neck and experimentally stretched out his arms, wincing as he did so.

“Then I’ll take this as my cue to go,” Peter said, casting out a web. “See you later, chaton.”

Chat sputtered. “What did you just call me?”

“That’s what Ladybug calls you, isn’t it? I thought you might prefer it.” Peter realized his mistake looking at Chat’s expression. “Or maybe not. Bye!” He swung away, pretending to disappear over the school’s roof but actually dropping down in the courtyard, sneaking into the locker room to get his bag.

Slipping into the bathroom, Peter willed away his mask, gloves and boots, pulling his clothes back on overtop the suit. It was a routine he’d perfected over the years after slipping away from classes, field trips, etc. It was at the point he was seriously considering becoming one of those quick change artists.

He checked his phone, making sure there were no messages from Adrien. Just as he’d expected, nothing. Chat Noir couldn’t really text if he was unconscious.

Attention on his phone, Peter wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings as he exited the locker room, almost immediately bumping into Adrien. His wince of pain didn’t go unnoticed by Peter, who chose not to comment on it.

“Peter!” Adrien said. “What are you doing here?”

“I uh, lost my phone,” Peter said. “And I didn’t know how to get back to your house.”

Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose. “God, I’m an idiot. I’m sorry. I was just, um, looking for you! But now I’ve found you!”

“Yeah, so is the school day over now or what?” Peter waited for Adrien to grab his bag then fell into step beside him.

“Yeah, we usually don’t come back after an akuma attack. I’d usually have Chinese lessons, but it’s a bit too late for that.”

Peter checked the time. Three pm. “Oh.”

“But we didn’t get any homework, so when we get back home we’ll have free time. That’s something you like, right?” Adrien asked as they walked out the front door.

“Yeah, duh. Who doesn’t like free time?” Peter’s eyes fell on Adrien’s ring, which he was twisting unconsciously, like a nervous tick. “I saw Ladybug,” he blurted.

“Really?” Adrien’s eyes lit up. “What did you think of her?”

“I didn’t really get too much of a good look, but she looked…nice?” Peter wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to say about Ladybug, or how much he could give away before Adrien realized something was up.

“Well, there’s probably footage I can show you at home,” Adrien said.

They went straight to Adrien’s room when they got home. The Agreste mansion was completely silent, not a soul in sight. Something about it just didn’t sit right with Peter. Sure, photos of Adrien adorned one of the walls but it still seemed impersonal, cold. However Adrien didn’t seem to notice. He seemed to be on his own most of the time, anyways.

“This is the Ladyblog,” Adrien said, pointing at one of his three computer screens. “It’s run by my friend Alya. Whenever she hears there’s been an attack, she runs right to it, instead of away, and she captures a lot of the footage you see on the news. She loves Ladybug, obviously.”

“What’s that?” Peter pointed at the latest link. It said his name, he could tell that much.

“I don’t know,” Adrien said, clicking the article and beginning to translate it for Peter. “Spotted today in Paris, Spiderman! The Avenger helped participate in today’s uh, events? It just goes on to ask if he’s working with Ladybug and Chat Noir, if they’re Avengers now too, just the general speculation, you know?”

“There’s a video?” Peter watched as Adrien pulled it up. Alya must’ve been much closer than he’d realized, because he could watch himself get blown up in HD. It looked a lot worse than it had felt, and Adrien grimaced, skipping forwards slightly to watch Spiderman and Ladybug take down the akuma.

“Wow, looks like he’s really part of their team, huh?” Adrien said. “I personally think that Ladybug and Chat Noir were already a dream team, but it definitely can’t hurt if they add one more member.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Looks like Chat Noir got beat up pretty bad, though.”

“I wonder why Spiderman recovered so much faster,” Adrien mused. “Hey, you work with him, right? Do you know why?”

 _Just ask him tonight,_ Peter thought. “It’s probably his suit. It’s worth something like sixteen million dollars, but Tony Stark has his own special suit-making machines, so I don’t know. It’s kind of customizable. Maybe he has impact lessening technology? Kinetic energy dispersion or something? And he’s got like, super-strength.”

“That’s so cool. Seeing him in action, here in Paris…. It just makes everything seem so much more real, you know? That superheroes exist.”

“Did you ever doubt it?” Peter glanced at him, his hand resting on the back of Adrien’s computer chair.

“Yeah. When my mom died, I wondered how, if superheroes were real, how bad things could still happen. How people could still be hurting and dying if there were people out there who could stop it. But then I learned they couldn’t possibly look after the whole world.” Adrien was staring at his computer screen as it automatically played more Ladybug footage but his mind was somewhere else. “What about you?”

“No, not really,” Peter said. “There’s always going to be bad people out there and bad things are going to happen to good people, but superheroes are human too. They can mess up sometimes. That doesn’t make them any less a hero in the end. Plus, heroes don’t always have powers or flashy toys. More often than not, they’re just like you and me. After natural disasters, there’s people out there helping the victims. After tragedy, people bond together to support each other. Looking at that, how could I ever question that heroes exist?”

“Have you ever seen any of the Avengers lose their composure?” Adrien looked at him, eyes almost pleading, and Peter knew he needed this conversation. As Chat Noir, he had a lot riding on his shoulders, along with the duty to protect the people of Paris.

“All the time,” he admitted. “I‘ve seen Spiderman cry, seen Iron Man pass out from exhaustion, Thor drop his magic hammer. But its humanity that separates the heroes from the villains.”

“Man, you have no idea how much I needed to hear that,” Adrien said, letting out a sigh before backpedaling. “I just feel like I put them on a pedestal too often. Just needed that reminder that they’re…human.”

“That’s enough superhero talk for now, I think,” Peter chuckled. “What should we do now?”

“I’ve got video games?” Adrien suggested.

“Do we have to stay in the house?” Peter raised one eyebrow slowly. “It appears no one is home to miss us.”

“Peter Parker, are you suggesting we sneak out?”

“Adrien Agreste, are you about to agree?” Peter held Adrien’s gaze, almost challengingly.

“What do you have in mind?” Adrien gave in.

“For starters, we go buy each other ridiculously stupid outfits, then we unleash ourselves on the town,” Peter said. “I’ve always wanted to try it, but my friends back home are lame.”

“Well, I’m not lame.” Adrien stood up. _Success._ “Let’s go.”

“Gimme one second to empty my school stuff out of my bag,” Peter said.

Ten minutes later he’d changed into a casual sweater and jeans, spidey suit locked back in its briefcase, and he and Adrien were running out the front door.

Another ten minutes and Peter had paid a cab and they were standing outside a department store.

“Okay, so the goal is to get the most ridiculous outfit for each other, and then we buy it, change into it, and we can’t argue at all,” Peter grinned.

“Do your absolute worst.”

And his worst Peter did. When Adrien finally exited the change room wearing Peter’s choices for him, he was bright red in the face, tears in his eyes from laughing already.

“I wish I’d picked something so much worse for you!”

“Come on, gimme a twirl,” Peter laughed. Adrien stepped carefully in the wooden wedge sandals, trying not to step on the hems of his neon-pink bellbottom pants. They were high waisted, but the crop top Peter had picked out was short enough to expose an ample amount of Adrien’s midriff. It was a dizzying black and white checkered pattern, with random triangles cut out of the shoulders.

“Hold up,” Peter held up a hand for Adrien to stop. “Where are the duckling earrings?”

“Oh right!” Adrien tripped/ran back into the dressing room, coming out a few moments later with dangling ducky earrings that just added a ridiculous touch to the whole fit. Peter had noticed his ears were pierced, and taken advantage of it. “Okay, okay, your turn.”

Peter took the bag Adrien handed him, walking into the dressing room. “Oh hell yeah,” he said, pulling out the first article of clothing.

Not even a full minute later, Peter was strutting out of the dressing room, head held high despite the fact he could barely breathe as he held in his laughter.

“Okay model boy, how’s it look?” Peter jutted out a hip, letting Adrien see the outfit in all its glory. A blue bucket hat with a tiny octopus was perched on Peter’s head, hiding his usually messy brown hair. A shiny green nylon turtleneck was underneath a large, felt sweater that for some reason had no arms and a long cut from the neck down to Peter’s belly button. But Adrien had really outdone himself by finding the ugliest skirt Peter had ever seen. It was asymmetrical cut, ending just below his knees, made with a fabric displaying the ugliest combination of dull browns, muted oranges, and bright bright yellows. It was really a train wreck and a half. The Doc Martens that Adrien had given him to wear on his feet were normal though. And way more expensive than the game called for.

“You look fabulous.”

“I feel fabulous. I should wear skirts more often,” Peter said, adjusting his hat. “The shoes, though….”

“I wanted you to have some nice shoes,” Adrien said. “Your converse make me want to die.”

“I guarantee these are going to be in the same condition within a month,” Peter laughed.

“At least I tried.” He shrugged. “Where to next?”

“That’s the fun part,” Peter said as they headed towards the exit. “I stole your phone while you were in the changing room and asked some friends to meet us for a movie.”

Adrien froze on the spot, slowly turning to face Peter. “You little thief!”

“As far as I can tell, you don’t get out much. I think I’ve learned more about you in twenty-four hours than any of your friends know about you. So we’re going to make the most of this Monday evening.” Peter walked around him, heading out the door and onto the street. They got a few curious stares as Peter lead them up to the nearest crosswalk.

“Which. Friends.” Adrien suddenly looked shy.

“Calm down, it’ll be fun, I promise. Just a movie, then a little dinner! With Nino, Alya, and Marinette!”

Adrien had been looking relieved with Peter’s choices until he said Marinette’s name. “Marinette doesn’t like me,” he said, looking at the ground.

“Then why did she agree to come?” Peter asked, watching as the light turned red and the walk sign lit up.

“She’s probably just coming because the others are.”

“I didn’t tell her the others were coming.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright? I mean they don’t exactly speak English,” Adrien said, clearly trying to think of ways to get out of it.

“Language learning by exposure is apparently the best method,” Peter chirped. “Oh good, Alya and Nino are already here.” They were just down the street from the cinema and he could already see them.

“I’m telling you, Marinette doesn’t like me, sure she says we’re friends, but then she also avoids me a lot,” Adrien said, scratching the back of his neck.

“Maybe she’s just shy?” Peter waved to the duo waiting outside the cinema doors.

Alya looked confused, tilting her head, before bursting into laughter, grabbing Nino’s arm and pointing.

“Why’s she laughing?” Adrien asked, sounding almost offended.

“Dude, look at what you’re wearing,” Peter said, pointing at the window they passed.

“I literally forgot! I was wondering why I was feeling so cold,” Adrien laughed as they reached his friends. They exchanged greetings and Peter hung back slightly, content to just watch Adrien enjoy himself.

“Marinette!” Peter caught a glimpse of her on the sidewalk opposite them. She jumped at the sound of her name, then quickly ran across the street to meet them. Peter watched her eyes widen as she took in both him and Adrien’s outfits, and he knew she must be in a designer’s nightmare. He’d seen her sketching fashion in class, it was obviously something she was passionate about. And here he was, having the audacity to dress in the ugliest outfit ever right in front of her.

They started talking, and Peter was surprised to realize he understood most of it. He’d always been a fast learner.

“Wow, Adrien, that outfit is really…?” Alya seemed at a loss for words.

“Perfect? Stunning? Godly?” Adrien supplied. “Peter and I picked each other’s outfits. I think his eye for fashion could almost rival yours, Mari.”

Marinette squeaked as he addressed her. “Uhhhh, yeah! It looks really good, Peter!”

“Merci?” Peter shot Adrien a look, causing him to start up his laughter that he’d _just_ gotten under control. Of course, looking at Adrien howling set Peter off too until they had both sunk to the pavement, taking gasping breaths in between their peals of cackling. Peter assumed they looked like the crackheads he passed in the subway on his way to school every day but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care.

“Are we interrupting something? I thought we were here to see a movie?” Alya snapped, but there was no venom in her tone.

“Sorry,” Peter breathed, using Adrien as a ladder to clamber back into a standing position.

They managed to keep it together as they made their way into the theatre, choosing a movie at random. It wound up being an animated movie about parrots that the boys found way funnier than the girls. It also didn’t help that they were the only ones in the theatre. Nino was running in front of the screen imitating birds within ten minutes of the film beginning and of course it was one of the funniest things Peter had ever seen. He could hear Alya asking Marinette why she’d bothered coming and their annoyance only made the situation even more hilarious.

Marinette was obviously not paying attention to Alya’s complaints; she was just gazing at Adrien.

“Why’s she staring at me?” Adrien whispered to Peter in English.

“I don’t know. Let’s give her a show.” Peter stood up, dancing down the aisle as the parrots started up a particularly spicy musical number on the screen. Adrien joined him in a heartbeat until it was him, Nino, and Peter all just dancing at the front of the theatre. Finally he saw a slight crack in Marinette and Alya’s expressions until they gave in, joining them in their dancing.

The movie was over too soon, and Peter wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone a single character’s name if they asked. Nor any of the major plot points. But he was absolutely certain there had been birds on the screen at some point.

“Time for the restaurant!” Nino cheered. “I know just the place!”

“Nothing fancy,” Peter insisted. He was certain his French wasn’t perfect, but at this point no one had corrected him and they all seemed to understand him, so his confidence was growing. “Adrien gets enough of that at home.”

Peter hadn’t even known they had Denny’s in France until Nino had lead them there. The restaurant was fairly empty, so they took a table in the corner after placing their order, then Peter pulled out the music.

“Anyone here like Nicki Minaj?” He glanced around at them. Only Adrien nodded.

“Who?” Alya and the others looked confused.

“Put one on,” Adrien said, leaning over in his seat to see what options Peter had. “Barbie Tingz.”

Obediently, Peter put it on, dancing slightly in his seat. Adrien took it a step further, getting out of his seat and beginning a dance that seemed to have a lot to do with moving his head around. Peter hadn’t even known this side of Adrien existed.

“Drop it, Adri!” Peter called out, mock-yelling. Adrien shot him a shit-eating grin and dropped down, hopping around on the balls of his feet.

“All you bitches wanna look like me,” they both sang along, laughing at the shocked looks on the others faces. Peter stood up, joining Adrien with his little dance as Adrien stood back up.

Alya seemed to be getting more into it as the song continued, even going so far as to request dance moves. “Shake that ass, Agreste!”

Adrien complied, pinning his tongue between his teeth as he bent over slightly. He looked so much like Chat Noir in that moment that Peter was worried the others would find out, but so far they were just laughing, too caught up in the usually stoic model loosening up. 

“Get it, get it!” Peter chanted until Nino and Alya joined in. Marinette was still sitting, frozen, watching as Adrien busted down in the middle of Denny’s at five pm on a Monday evening.

“Your food,” a waiter with an absolutely dead expression. Adrien immediately stopped, blushing as he returned to his seat.

“This is what happens when you suppress your personality for sixteen years,” Peter said. “You wind up twerking in the middle of a fast food chain.” Marinette straight up choked on her drink across the table from him.

“Haha, sorry, things got a little out of control there,” Adrien laughed awkwardly. “Not gonna say I regret it though.”

“I think it’s a good thing Peter is staying with you,” Alya said, pointing a fry at Adrien. “You’re finally loosening up, being yourself!”

“‘Myself’ seems to like making exceedingly bad decisions,” Adrien said, glancing at Marinette who still wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes. “Marinette? Sorry if I made you uncomfortable or something, I promise I wasn’t trying to be weird or anything?”

“It’s fine!” She squeaked, cheeks reddening. “You’re a good dancer.”

“I bet he’s good at other things too,” Alya said with a knowing look that made both Marinette and Adrien blush.

They exchanged friendly banter for the rest of the meal, and they all made sure to include Peter in their conversations, which was nice. It was hard to believe that he’d only been there for a day and he hadn’t been friends with Adrien his whole life. They already felt like brothers.

So when it came time to return home and for Peter to suit up for patrol, he bid Adrien a goodnight without having to worry if Adrien was going to ask too many questions. It was either Peter made the first excuse or he did. Either way they were both lying. Peter didn’t think too much of it.

Within no time he was out and about. He could feel the slightest bit of the fall air around him but the suit still kept him at the perfect temperature. Any fatigue he’d felt was washed away as he dipped up and down above the Parisian skyline, like his own personal rollercoaster ride.

Ladybug was waiting on the rooftop when he joined her.

“I don’t think Chat Noir is coming,” she told him, skin milky pale under the moonlight.

“No, he’s on his way,” Peter replied casually.

She narrowed her eyes. “How do you-”

“Hello buggies!” Chat Noir dropped down gracefully, shooting both of them the same grin Adrien had worn at dinner that evening. Really, the look alone should have been enough for Marinette to put two and two together, but she seemed subconsciously determined to separate Adrien from Chat Noir.

“I saw him on the way over,” Peter lied. “Hello kitty!” He greeted Chat with the same enthusiasm he’d shown them. “How’s the rib cage?”

“Purr-fect actually! I had the best day.”

“Big date?” Ladybug asked nonchalantly, playing with her yoyo.

“Jealous, are we My Lady? No worries, I was just spending some time with my best friend. Besides you, of course.” He tapped her on the nose. Peter blinked. He was Adrien’s best friend already? He shook the thought away. No, Adrien was probably talking about Nino.

“So, what do we do on patrol?” Peter looked between them, breaking up their moment. Ladybug glanced at him, like she’d forgotten he was standing there.

“Well, we usually just look around the city, make sure we don’t see anything out of the ordinary, then we meet back up at the park.”

“Sounds good.” He fired a web out, sticking it to a nearby building. “See you soon!”

Swinging about Paris at night was an unmatched experience. It seemed as though tourist season was over, and the streets were mainly empty as Peter flipped through the air. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking for, but he kept his eyes peeled nonetheless.

Everything was smooth sailing until his suit’s computer picked up on energy of a colossal amount coming from an otherwise innocent looking building. A massage therapy shop seemed like it could easily be a front for something, Peter decided.

 _I think I found something,_ Peter sent a message off to Ladybug with his location attached before engaging x-ray vision. It didn’t seem suspicious on the inside either, with a mostly empty main room and a modest kitchen and bedroom on the second level. He would’ve written it off as a false alarm if it hadn’t been for the gramophone sitting at the back of the room. The energy signatures coming off it were through the roof.

Before he was even conscious of what he was doing, Peter was carefully sliding one window open and crawling inside, up the walls and onto the ceiling. He made his way over to the gramophone before carefully dropping to the ground.

 _Spiderman,_ don’t _go in there,_ Ladybug’s text warned.

 _Too late,_ Peter replied. 

_Leave!_

Peter ignored her, instead reaching for the phonograph. It was calling him, and the energy now felt like a pull. There was something very important inside that gramophone, he could tell. He needed to know.

“Unfortunately I’m closed for the evening, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.” A voice in the previously dead quiet room made Peter jump, spinning around for the source of the noise. A short Chinese man in a red Hawaiian shirt stared up at him, unfazed by the fact that Spiderman had broken into his house.

“Sorry,” Peter stammered, feeling guilty about being caught. “I didn’t mean to…I just mean I was just investigating this gramophone you’ve got here.”

“You can sense it?” The old man walked closer to Peter, staring up into his mask.

“I was only getting the energy signatures at first,” Peter replied, sweat dripping down the back of his neck. “But then it felt like a magnetic pull. I couldn’t help it, I’ll go now, I’m sorry.”

“You’re a very interesting person, Spiderman. I’ll keep that in mind,” the old man held out his hand to shake Peter’s and Peter complied. He was prepared to end it at that and leave when his gaze landed on the old man’s wrist. There was a green bracelet there, that looked like an ordinary bracelet at first, but something about it just seemed off to Peter. It looked brand-new, despite the fact that the man had a tan line around it.

“Is that a miraculous?” Peter blurted. “I’m sorry, that’s personal, I should just go.”

The old man smiled at him, obviously not mad, and Peter paused. “Chat Noir and Ladybug have told you about them, then?”

“A bit, yeah,” Peter said.

“Can I trust you, Spiderman?” The old man walked closer to the gramophone. “Can I trust you not to go to the Avengers with this information?”

“Yes,” Peter breathed. “You can trust me.”

“I am Master Fu, Guardian of the Miraculous,” the old man said. The name rang a bell.

“Whoa, so you keep them safe and stuff?” Peter drummed his fingers on his arm. “You get to pick who gets them?”

“Why, do you want a miraculous, Spiderman?” Master Fu’s expression was borderline challenging, and Peter knew what the correct answer was.

“No. I’ve got my own responsibilities. Plus, the other two are much better fits. They act so different in real life, it’s kind of funny.”

“You know their identities?” Master Fu looked alarmed. “They told you?”

“No! No, I just accidentally figured it out. By looking at them,” Peter said quickly, holding his hands out in front of him. “I’m not going to tell them who each other is, or anyone else or anything! I know how important it is to keep one’s identity secret. But it’s kind of difficult not to notice that it’s them. I mean, Adrien’s eyes are such a distinct shade of green, and Marinette wears ponytails like, everyday.”

Master Fu breathed out a relieved sigh. “Perhaps you’re smarter than I thought you were, Spiderman. Even so, a day will come where they must reveal themselves to one another, and I fear it will be sooner rather than later. It may weaken their bond. Can I trust you to help them?”

“Of course,” Peter said. “You can trust me with anything, Master Fu.” And with that he took his leave, leaping out the window he came in and taking off into Paris’s night.

It didn’t surprise him that Ladybug and Chat Noir were already waiting for him. Ladybug did not look happy.

“I told you _not_ to go in there!” She jabbed an accusing finger into Peter’s chest.

“And I didn’t,” Peter said simply.

“Go where?” Chat looked confused.

“Nowhere,” Ladybug said quickly. “It doesn’t matter, if he’s telling the truth.”

 _Wait a minute, does Adrien not know where the Guardian lives?_ Peter thought, glancing at Chat. He remembered him and Ladybug talking about him the night before, but Ladybug was obviously keeping something from Chat.

“I thought we were over the whole not trusting me thing,” Chat said, flicking his tail dejectedly.

“It’s not a trust thing,” Peter jumped in, wanting to smooth the situation over as fast as possible. He hadn’t wanted to cause any tension between the two partners. “It was literally just unimportant, a waste of time. I was going to investigate the sewers, but that would obviously take way too much time and there’s nothing down there anyways.”

“No,” Chat said, and Peter froze. No? “I think you might be onto something. What better place for a villainous lair than in the sewers beneath the city?”

“Uh,” Ladybug said, obviously trying to think of a way to dissuade him. “Maybe some other time? It’s getting kind of late.”

“I think we still have time for a bit of bonding,” Chat said with an impish grin. “How about truth or dare, but with the original rules. Like, you ask the question and if they refuse to answer, they do a dare.”

“I’m down,” Peter said, taking a seat on the cool grass.

“We have school tomorrow,” Ladybug said. “Plus, playing truth or dare in a park isn’t really a good use of our time.”

“What will make better memories? School, or actually doing something fun for once?” Chat sat next to Peter, crossing his legs and resting his head in his palms. “I wanna learn something about Mr. Spider here.”

“Come on, Ladybug,” Peter encouraged, and he and Chat high-fived when she let out an annoyed sigh and joined their little circle.

“Who goes first?” She asked.

“Ladies first,” Chat Noir said, gesturing towards her.

“Well we don’t know if Spiderman is a lady,” Ladybug said. “So I guess my first question will be, ‘Spiderman, what pronouns do you use’?”

“Oh, I’m a guy,” Peter said. “I may sound like a little girl, but I am male by birth and by choice. One day my voice will crack, and then you’ll see.” He settled back on his hands.

“Your turn then, Spidey,” Chat said.

“Alright Mr. Noir, I’m afraid my question isn’t going to be as juicy as you undoubtedly want it to be, but here we go. How do you transform?”

“Yeah, that wasn’t juicy.” Chat looked disappointed. “Pretty much, I’ve got my ring, right? And I say to my kwami, ‘Plagg, transform me!’ And then he does and I get the suit and everything.”

“So when you’re not in costume, it just rests in the jewelry? That’s such a good idea, I’m stealing it,” Peter said, already thinking of what small accessory he could ask Tony to keep his suit in. A spider necklace, perhaps? A watch?

“Stealing it?” Ladybug looked on edge. Wrong choice of words on Peter’s part.

“The idea. Not the miraculous. I don’t think leather catsuits are really my vibe, to be honest. Anyways, Chat, it’s your turn.”

“Okay Spiderman, since you’re the new guy here obviously I want to just interview you all night long,” Chat said, laying down on his stomach and kicking his feet in the air behind him. “Are you more yourself in the suit or out?”

It was a good question. Peter thought for a moment, not wanting to rush his answer. “I think I’m the same either way. Sure, I show different sides of myself when I’m in the spidey suit than out of it, because it’s different situations, but I don’t have identity issues or anything. If that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Must be nice,” Ladybug muttered.

“I’m sure My Lady is just as perfect out of costume as she is in it,” Chat said with an exaggerated wink.

“So are you two dating, then?” Peter asked cheekily.

“No,” Ladybug said quickly.

“Not yet, anyways,” Chat sighed.

“I think that’s enough for tonight, I’ll see you Wednesday if there’s not an akuma attack before then.” Ladybug stood up, casting out her yoyo and zipping away before Peter or Chat could say anything.

“One day she’ll realize she’s in love with me,” Chat commented, giving Peter a knowing look. “It’s destiny. We’re two sides of the same coin.”

“Maybe she’s already in love with you, she just doesn’t realize it,” Peter suggested before he remembered he wasn’t supposed to be saying anything even remotely related to the superheroes real lives. “But she is right about it being late. See you later, Chat.”

He was back in his room and typing on the computer before he heard Adrien landing in his own room. Peter was proposing the idea of an accessory that could contain his suit to Tony without giving away too many details of how he’d acquired the idea, hoping he’d be up to the challenge.

Sighing, he tugged at his pyjama shirt as he checked his phone, sending Ned a meme before shutting it off and plugging it in to charge. He lay down in bed, closing his eyes in attempt to sleep but his thoughts kept wandering off. There was a guardian of the miraculous, meaning there was a lot more than just Ladybug and Chat Noir. If the energy signature was anything to go off of, the extra kwamis were definitely powerful.

And why had Master Fu trusted Spiderman, whose identity he didn’t know, with his location but not Chat Noir? Was Chat less trustworthy? Impulsive, sure. But untrustworthy? As far as Peter could tell, Adrien barely ever offered up personal details to anyone, not even his friends.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts as the golden boy himself poked his head in.

“I was just coming to say goodnight, I wasn’t sure if you were asleep yet or not.” He gave Peter a small smile. “Also I had fun today, we should do that more often.”

“Yeah, of course,” Peter said. “Next time you want to do something rash, let me know.”

“Will do.”

“Goodnight, Adrien.” As soon as Adrien left, Peter drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Peter and Adrien would be Barbs...
> 
> Also from here on out, we’re just going to pretend Peter speaks French well enough to talk to everyone in the story. Obviously it’s not realistic for someone to learn an entire language in two days but shhhhh he’s smart, okay? Also we will be switching POV’s coming up in the next chapter so we get a little looksies into Adrien and Marinette’s heads, finally. These first two chapters were just kind of easing Peter into their world, establishing what he’s got going on, but we’ll get more of that Ladychat dynamic coming soon!
> 
> As always, you can see sketches I’ve done relating to the chapters here: https://pin.it/1hTjNi6


	3. Amour Chassé-Croisè

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets a suit upgrade, Adrien gets a long-overdue lesson on sex-ed, lots of Adrien angst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for Adrien to get the spotlight!! Hope y’all enjoy!
> 
> As always, you can see sketches I’ve done relating to the chapters here: https://pin.it/DTE70KG  
> This week’s sketch was very fast & simple, but I’ve got some bigger things coming soon!

Ladybug had been right. They had stayed out too late and now Peter was exhausted.

“Do you drink coffee?” Peter asked Adrien at breakfast, praying he would answer in the affirmative.

“Can’t, my dad says it makes my teeth yellow,” Adrien said, eyes half closed as he sipped his orange juice. Peter should’ve been used to barely getting enough sleep by now, but the time difference was still throwing him off. Good thing he had nothing to do after school except watch movies with Adrien.

Peter’s phone vibrated with an incoming call. “Sorry, I should take this,” Peter said, checking the caller ID.

A photo of him and Tony filled the screen. It was Peter’s favourite. Both him and Tony were grinning at the camera, and Tony was holding a singular iron man fist up for the camera.

“Hello?” Peter said, hastily walking away from the table as he pressed the phone to his ear.

“Come to the window of your room,” Tony’s voice answered. “Press it to the spider logo on your suit, it should hopefully work. See you around, kid.” And with that he hung up before Peter could even get a word in.

Peter entered his room, only to see a black box sitting on the floor in front of one of his open windows. Gently he picked it up, opening the lid to see a silver necklace with a spider pendant inside.

“Perfect,” he said aloud, running his hand over the Stark Industries logo on the inside of the lid before clasping the necklace around his neck. He pulled his suit out of the briefcase, following Tony’s instructions and pressing the black spider to the matching pendant.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. And then the suit dissolved in his hands, being sucked into the necklace like a vacuum. It was so cool.

“Peter? We gotta go!” Adrien called from somewhere in the hallway. He’d have to test out the transformation later, then.

School was as boring as ever. Peter could do even the most complex of mathematical equations they gave him in his head. He was fine with it, though. Midtown High was always trying to challenge him and failing. He much rather the school not try in the first place.

Peter didn’t even realize he’d dozed off until Adrien was shaking him awake for lunch. He blinked, sitting up, surprised that no one else had even noticed.

“How are you tired? You went to bed so early,” Adrien teased as they sat in the courtyard. Peter shared some of his leftover bread, as it seemed that Adrien hadn’t been permitted a lunch for the day.

“Going to bed early does not equate to a good night’s sleep,” Peter grumbled. “Is that coffee?” He asked Nino as he sat down with them, Alya and Marinette in tow.

“No, it’s a monster energy drink. Marinette has coffee though,” Nino said, taking a sip of his can.

“I could actually go for some coffee right now, too,” Adrien said.

“Daddy Agreste would get mad, though,” Nino said. “You’ve been banned from so many foods, I struggle to keep them all straight.”

“He’s already having bread,” Alya pointed out. “And I thought that was number one on the no no food list.”

“Mari? Could Peter and I have a sip of your coffee? Please?” Adrien shot Marinette a dazzling smile, coupled with sparkling green puppy-dog eyes.

“Eep! Of course!” Marinette squeaked, promptly dumping the entire contents of her thermos on the ground. Peter and Adrien just stared at her, and Peter felt his soul leave his body a little bit. “Oh no, I’m sorry! I meant to pass it to you and then I just….”

“Are you okay? You dumped it on your leg,” Adrien pointed out.

“It’s fine! You’re really hot, I mean it’s really hot!” Marinette giggled.

“Should we take her to the nurse?” Nino asked.

“I’ll take her,” Alya volunteered. “Come on, Mari.” Alya helped her hobble away in the direction of the office.

“Poor Marinette,” Adrien said. “She’s always been so clumsy.”

“You think that’s all there is to it?” Nino said incredulously. “Man, maybe you really are as oblivious as Alya says.”

 _You have no idea,_ Peter thought. Out loud, however, he said, “Nino, you know he’s in love with Ladybug.”

“I don’t get that,” Nino said. “Sure, everyone is in love with Ladybug. But you’ve talked to her like, twice. There are real girls at this school who would love to be with you.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Adrien laughed. “Plus, none of the girls at this school are Ladybug.”

Peter facepalmed before he could stop himself. The loud smack caused both Adrien and Nino to jump, staring at him.

“There was a fly,” he said lamely by means of explanation.

“When are you gonna realize that you and Ladybug aren’t going to happen?’ Nino prodded further. “She’s a superhero, she can’t have a personal life inside that. When she’s not in the suit she’s got her own stuff going on. Have you ever considered that she has a boyfriend in real life?”

Adrien paused, and Peter could tell that no, Adrien definitely had not considered that fact. It seemed to ruin his whole mood, and he was pretty quiet for the rest of lunch and the school day.

“We’re still on to watch movies, right?” Peter asked as Adrien got ready for his fencing lesson.

“Yeah, I guess,” Adrien said, putting his white helmet on. “I’ll be done in half an hour.”

“I’ll be at that café nearby,” Peter supplied, waving as he exited the school building. Nino had written Adrien being upset off as him just having to face reality, but Peter knew Adrien wasn’t thinking about Adrien Agreste and Ladybug being together. He wanted Chat Noir and Ladybug to be together, and now Nino had ruined that fantasy by implying that Ladybug could have a boyfriend that wasn’t Adrien.

Peter stumbled his way through ordering a coffee and finally managed to sit down, taking a deep breath as he breathed in the delicious coffee fumes. He was raising the cup to his lips, preparing to take his first sip, when he heard a scream outside.

“Jesus Christ,” he cursed aloud, setting the coffee down on the table and running into the washrooms. Now was a good time as ever to test out his suit’s new capabilities.

“Karen, transform me,” he said and his necklace glowed, his suit expanding from his sternum outwards, his clothes melting into the suit seamlessly grew over him. Within seconds the transformation had finished, and where Peter Parker had stood before was now Spiderman. His backpack had also vanished, and Peter couldn’t tell if it was convenient or not. The small washroom had a glazed window and Peter smashed it, rationalizing by reminding himself that Ladybug’s magic would set it back to normal in the end.

Today’s akuma was a lady whose dance tv show had been canceled after one episode. At least, that’s what Peter gathered from her cringey monologue as she hit passerby's with a whip that caused them to dance uncontrollably. Ladybug was nowhere in sight and Peter didn’t really feel like taking the akuma on by himself.

He landed right in the middle of Adrien’s fencing lesson to no small amount of screams. Adrien was waiting for his turn on the sidelines, his helmet blessedly off for easy recognition. Peter shot a web right in the middle of his chest, pulling him up and away.

They landed behind the school once more and Adrien regarded him with a bewildered expression. “Spiderman?”

“There’s an akuma, suit up.” Peter said, then realized his mistake. Adrien didn’t know Spiderman. Or at least he hadn’t.

* * *

What had Spiderman just said? Suit up? Spiderman knew? Spiderman knew!

Adrien was panicking as he stared blankly at Spiderman, his mind reeling. _How_ did he know?

“Sui-suit up? I don’t know what you mean?”

“Shit, I didn’t mean…I forgot you weren’t supposed to know I knew,” Spiderman grabbed at his own head in exasperation. “I’m sorry Chat, I mean Adrien.”

Adrien just stared at him, uncertain of whether he should move to transform. “How did you…?” He didn’t want to confirm or deny it, but if there was an akuma attack, Ladybug was probably out there battling it herself.

“My suit has an iris scanner,” Spidey explained, his suit’s eyes adjusting into what looked like a sympathetic shape. “So, uh, it kind of matched Chat Noir’s eyes with yours. Cuz you’re kind of all over the internet.”

“Of course it did,” Adrien grumbled. “You’re not going to tell anyone, right?”

“Never,” Spiderman promised. “Spider’s honour. I never even meant to tell you that I knew, I just saw an akuma and panicked.”

Right. The akuma. Adrien could’ve slapped himself. They were standing there having a cushy conversation while Paris was being terrorized.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag,” Adrien said. “Plagg, transform me!” A flash of green later and Chat Noir had taken his place.

“Come on, it’s this way,” Spiderman said, running along a rooftop and swinging off. Adrien struggled to keep up.

“Why couldn’t I have been given something to swing with? Ladybug has her yoyo, Spiderman has his webs, and all I’ve got is this stupid baton. This isn’t fair.” He complained aloud, despite the fact that no one could hear him.

He was already out of breath by the time he reached the buggies. They were staring at the victims with concern, watching as Paris’s inhabitants danced through the streets, locked in a vicious dance off.

“Where’s the akuma?” Chat asked, looking around. Everyone within eyesight was part of the flash mob, moving to a beat they couldn’t hear.

“Chat!” Spiderman moved so fast Chat almost missed it, and then he was being yanked forwards, a web stuck to his chest as a whip cracked through the air where Adrien had been standing only seconds before.

“Aha! Ladybug, Chat Noir, I see you’ve come to join the fun!” The akuma had a chunky bob, a flashy dress and super tall stilettos, like a Barbie doll of a child who’d just discovered scissors.

“I’ve always preferred more of a smooth waltz myself,” Adrien quipped, glancing at Ladybug. “It’s a little more intimate, if you know what I mean.”

“Hey!” Spiderman said, putting his hands on his hips. “You forgot me! You mentioned Ladybug and Chat Noir, but it’s like I’m not even here! I’m such a good dancer, too! Which is why I know you can’t be a good dancer if you don’t have good _form_.” He put emphasis on the last word.

Adrien looked at him, confused, and Spiderman jerked his head towards the lady’s balled up first. Sure enough, he could see the corner of a piece of paper poking out.

“Oh yeah, good form,” he repeated lamely.

“Way to make it obvious,” Ladybug said, swinging her yoyo around her head as she charged the akuma who, predictably, ran away.

Spiderman and Chat fell into stride beside her as they chased the akuma over the rooftops, feet thudding and Adrien’s claws scraping. “Do you want to use something, My Lady?” He asked, nodding to her yoyo.

“Why not,” she sighed. “Lucky Charm!” A bottle of olive oil landed in her hands.

“Oil! That’s great, that’ll make her slip so fast,” Adrien said enthusiastically. “Trust me, when you’re wearing heels there’s like, no grip at all.”

“I’ll take your word for it, I’m not really a fan of heels,” Ladybug replied as she looked around for a place to pour it.

“There!” Spiderman pointed at a house with a glass roof. “Chat, bring her to us; Ladybug and I are going to set up a slick surprise for Miss Dancy Pants.”

“That’s the best you could come up with?” Ladybug asked. “Dancy pants?”

“I never said I was creative, I just said I was sticky when I joined the team,” Spidey said, miffed.

“Okay, I’m on it,” Chat said, running after the akuma. “Hey, Dancy Pants!”

“My name is Starlette!” The akuma roared, pausing to wheel around and flick her whip at Chat. He dodged it easily, his grin never wavering.

“Sorry, you can’t forgive me for not knowing who you are,” he said. “After all, I haven’t even seen you dance yet. All this talk about making everyone else dance, but maybe you’re all talk and no do.”

“I’m the best dancer this world has ever seen! They weren’t ready for my talent! You’re not ready for my talent!” As she screamed at him, Chat saw the telltale mask sign surround her face, letting him know that Papillon was speaking to her. Probably something about his miraculous.

“Give me your miraculous and I’ll show you how good a dancer I am,” Starlette said, her change in tactics confirming Adrien’s suspicion.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “You see, I have a feeling my miraculous is worth a lot more than whatever dance you want to show me.” And with that, he took off running back the way he’d came, listening to the satisfying click-click of her heels as she followed hot in pursuit.

Chat saw the trap on the glass roof and bounded over it, but Starlette wasn’t as lucky as she tried to run across the oil. Her ankles twisted in a way that made him wince as she slipped and slid right into Spiderman’s waiting web, getting stuck to it.

“Let! Go!” Ladybug moved in carefully, trying to pry the piece of paper from the akuma’ said sealed fist, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“Stand back, I got this,” Spiderman said, stepping forwards. “Taser web!”

Both Ladybug and Chat said ‘no!’ in unison but it was too late as a crackling web shot from Spidey’s wrist, hitting the akuma victim with an electric shock that tightened all her muscles then released them, and the balled-up form fell into the oil.

“Cataclysm!” Chat said, pressing his destructive powers into the paper, crumbling it instantly. Ladybug quickly snatched up the akuma butterfly, purifying it.

“Never do that again! You could’ve killed her!” Ladybug snapped at Spiderman.

“But I didn’t. It wasn’t enough of a charge to kill anyone, and besides, an akuma makes a person superhuman. A little shock isn’t going to hurt them.” And sure enough, the lady appeared unharmed, albeit confused, as she looked around.

“Next time we’ll exhaust all our other options first before we break out the taser webs,” Ladybug begrudgingly agreed. “Miraculous ladybug!” She threw the empty oil carton into the air.

Adrien held out his fist and she pounded it. “Bien joué!” They said in unison.

After relocating further away from the frenzy that usually descended after an akuma attack, Spiderman flashed them a peace sign.

“I’d love to stay and talk, but I’ve got to go talk to Iron Man. I’m long overdue for a status report.”

That was the coolest thing he could’ve said, Adrien decided. “No way! I wanna meet Iron Man!”

Ladybug made a small sound of disagreement and Spidey unfortunately seemed to agree. “I don’t want to make it seem like it’s a big secret meeting, but Mr. Stark tends to reside in a morally grey area when it comes to getting what he wants, and I have a feeling he’d take a special interest in your miraculous. I’ll just filter it out for him, tell him I have no idea who you are or how you get your powers,” he said with a wink.

“Thanks Spidey,” Ladybug said.

“Hey, we’re a team,” he replied, taking a step backwards before launching himself off the building. Adrien watched him free fall for a moment, like he was going to splat onto the pavement below, but then a web shot out and he went swinging off.

“Ladybug?” Adrien turned to face his polka-dotted partner. “Can we go detransform, feed our kwamis, then meet back up? I’ve actually got something important to talk to you about.”

“Chat,” she sighed. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t want to go to the cinema with you, I’ve told you, there’s-”

“Someone else, yeah yeah,” Adrien waved it off, ignoring the slight sting that came with the reminder that Ladybug was enamoured with someone else. “Believe it or not, this isn’t an attempt at flirting.”

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting atop L’Arc de Triomphe. Adrien swung his legs off the edge, watching the traffic below. Ladybug tentatively took a seat beside him, waiting for him to say something.

“Spiderman knows my identity,” Adrien said at last.

“What? How?” Ladybug’s eyes widened, and he could see her searching his face from his peripherals, trying to gauge his mood. “Did you tell him?”

“No, apparently he’s got…,” Adrien’s voice trailed off as something dawned on him. “He told me his suit has an iris scanner, and it matched me up with me in real life. _But_ he’s lying.”

“He’s lying?” Ladybug didn’t follow.

“Do you think my eyes look like this all the time?” Adrien pointed at his eyes, his pupils in their typical vertical slits. “When I’m Chat Noir, they’re like a cat’s eyes. Therefore, my iris actually changes shape to accommodate the pupil, meaning that Spiderman’s suit couldn’t have identified me through my irises alone. So why would he lie about that?”

Ladybug hummed, thoughtful. “He seems like a good guy. He respects the whole identity thing, I’m sure. Meaning, he found out on accident. You know how sometimes you find out stuff you didn’t mean to find? And it completely changes things? That’s probably what happened with Spiderman.”

“You’re not mad?” Adrien whispered, turning to face her. God, she was so beautiful. Her skin was glowing in the autumn sun, her blue eyes sparkling, her lips and cheeks rosy.

“Why would I be mad?”

“Well, now he knows, and you don’t.”

“Maybe I don’t want to know,” Ladybug replied honestly. Adrien blinked.

“You don’t?”

“We’ve known each other for awhile now, and I honestly can’t imagine you as anyone other than Chat Noir. And as dumb as it sounds, I’m still not ready to let go of this team we’ve got going on.”

Adrien playfully bumped her shoulder with his. “Knowing who I am doesn’t have to change anything.”

“Chaton, no matter who you are, it _will_ change our partnership. Trust me. And I’m not ready for that. It either changes things noticeably, or we lie to ourselves and pretend we’re still the same when in reality we’re not.”

“Who’s to say it would change for the bad? Maybe you’d wind up really liking who was beneath all this leather,” Adrien gave her a wicked grin, but he couldn’t stop his gaze from dropping down to her lips. If only….

“I don’t have to know who you are to know that you mean nothing but trouble,” Ladybug pushed his shoulder. “The poor people who have to put up with you on a day to day basis.”

“No one puts up with me on a daily basis,” Adrien said truthfully. “I sit at home and save all my energy for you, My Lady.”

“Guess that’s why you’re such a massive dork,” Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Maybe some more social interaction would do you good.”

“Are you suggesting we spend more time together?” He practically sang. “Because I’d never say no to that.”

“That is _not_ what I’m saying. Didn’t you say the other day that you had a friend? Why don’t you go spend time with them?”

“I’d much rather-” Adrien stopped himself, suddenly remembering Peter. Peter, who he’d left sitting in a coffee shop a few hours ago. Peter, who was undoubtedly wondering where Adrien had disappeared off to. “I just remembered I have a previous arrangement.” He stood up.

“Goodnight, Chat,” Ladybug laughed.

“Goodnight, My Lady,” he bowed before taking off at full speed back towards his house.

He detransformed in his room, immediately pulling out his phone. Two missed calls from Peter, and twice that many texts. Whoops.

Knocking on Peter’s bedroom door, Adrien rocked back on his heels, thinking about how he’d explain his absence this time. Got whipped by the akuma? That didn’t explain why it had taken him so long to get home. Got whipped by the akuma and cha-cha slid into the metro station and onto a train, now that was more reasonable.

He didn’t wind up needing an excuse, after all, as Peter simply opened the door, said, “there you are, what do you want to watch?” And then they were settling down to watch Tangled.

It didn’t take Peter long to uncover Adrien’s hidden talent when it cropped up the second he started singing along to the first musical score.

“You didn’t tell me you could sing too?” Peter said accusingly, turning to face Adrien on the couch.

“Sorry, I should’ve included it when I introduced myself to you,” Adrien nodded. “Hello, my name is Adrien Agreste, I’m a Libra, and I can kinda sing, on occasion.”

“Wait, hold up. You’re a Libra? I’m a Leo. When’s your birthday?” Peter waved his hands in the air frantically.

“Uh, October tenth,” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck.

“Dude! That’s in two days! When were you gonna tell me so I could get a present? Also, we’re birthday twins, but three months apart! How awesome is that?”

Adrien blinked, trying to decide what part of Peter’s verbal word dump to respond to first. “You don’t have to get me anything, my father usually doesn’t.”

Peter’s expression was nothing short of scandalized. “Then I _definitely_ have to get you something. Now shut up, unless you’re going to drop any more bombshells on me. They’re about to start ‘I’ve Got a Dream’.”

 _Well, I can think of one more bombshell…_ , Adrien thought. He pushed that thought away, shoving it right back where it came from so he could focus on singing his heart out with Peter.

“You know, you’re practically Rapunzel,” Peter pointed out. “You didn’t leave the house forever, you’ve got blond hair and green eyes, you can both sing, overly protective guardians, the works.”

“I left the house when I was homeschooled. I wasn’t locked up in a tower,” Adrien rolled his eyes.

“But you kinda missed out on a huge chunk of social development. I bet you never even got The Talk.”

“What’s The Talk?” Adrien racked his brain, trying to think of what Peter could be talking about. The eight point fashion talk? The diet talk? The silk versus velvet talk?

“The sex talk, man! You’ve never had health class?”

“Uh, no?”

“That’s it, I am officially cockblocking you from Ladybug until you know what a condom is,” Peter said, leaning back on the couch.

“I know what a condom is!” Adrien sputtered. He could tell from the heat rushing to his cheeks that he was blushing. “Ladybug and I aren’t-we’re not…Peter!” Peter was simply cackling at the look on his friend’s face.

“Adrien?” Both Adrien and Peter jumped at the sound of Gabriel Agreste’s voice as he entered the room, eyes falling on the movie playing in front of them, then on Peter.

“Dad? I uh, wasn’t expecting to see you at this time in the evening,” Adrien said, hastily pausing the movie.

“Dad?” Peter said. “Oh, you must be the father! Of Adrien!” He stumbled over his French a bit and Adrien internally cringed.

“Yes, you must be the American,” Adrien’s dad said, frigid as ever.

“Yeah! It’s so cool of you to have me here, it’s a pretty sick house!” Peter said, using the incorrect version of ‘sick’ before Adrien could stop him.

“I suggest you two don’t stay up too late, it is a school night,” Gabriel said, shoes clicking against the floor as he walked down the hall, having checked in on his son for the first time in three days.

“Peter, you can’t use ‘malade’ as slang for ‘sick’ like you do in English,” Adrien sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You just told my dad you think his house is ill. As in, like, nauseating. But with really bad grammar.”

“Sounds like success to me!” Peter said, reaching over to unpause the movie. “He didn’t even teach his son how to avoid procreation, he doesn’t deserve compliments.”

“Can you just shut up about this at least until the movie’s over? It feels wrong, talking about sex while watching a children’s cartoon.”

“So you admit, you know what sex is?”

“Peter, I’m turning sixteen in two days. Of course I…just shut up.”

“Gimme your phone.” Adrien sighed, handing it to Peter with a roll of his eyes, returning his attention to the movie. It wasn’t like Peter could do anything with it, Adrien had changed his password after Peter’s stint at the clothing store.

As if determined just to prove him wrong, Peter was in his phone within seconds, scrolling through his contacts.

“Hey! What?” Adrien made a grab for his phone but Peter veered away, holding it out of his reach as he typed quickly. “How’d you get past my passcode?”

“I’m good with tech,” Peter said, voice strained as he leaned over the arm of the couch. “Okay, here you go.”

Adrien took his phone back, looking at his most recent text messages, but there was nothing there except Peter’s own texts from earlier. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I don’t trust you in the slightest.”

Peter’s own phone rang and he pulled it out, glancing at it quickly. “That’s Alya. I’ve got to take it, goodnight.”

“We’re watching a movie!” Adrien protested as Peter answered the phone with an overly cheerful ‘coucou!’.

“Movie’s over,” Peter gestured to the rolling credits. “Keep your lunch period free tomorrow.” And with that, Peter left the room, striking up a conversation with Alya on the other end.

“Those two are scheming,” Adrien grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Scheming? Sounds like you’re just not used to being excluded.” Plagg, Adrien’s black cat kwami, zipped out from where he’d been hiding in Adrien’s shirt. “Have you really never had the talk?”

Adrien regarded Plagg with no small amount of contempt. “If I bribe you with cheese, will you drop it?”

“Naturally. It’s rude to talk with my mouth full.” Plagg swooped through the air, following him closely as Adrien bent down to open the cheese fridge. The smell of Camembert filled the room and Adrien couldn’t help his instinctive nose wrinkle. Plagg’s love for cheese only strengthened his own aversion. He wondered half-heartedly if Ladybug’s kwami was as picky. Probably not. Unlike him, Ladybug had her act together. She was radiant, bringing light into everyone’s lives. Her kwami probably loved her.

“Uh oh, you’re thinking of Ladybug again,” Plagg said, swallowing loudly. “Do I need to go hide in the loft and give you a minute to yourself or is this a kind of sharing emotions moment?”

Adrien felt his face grow hot. “This would be a sharing emotions moment, if you were the sort who liked talking about emotions.”

“Hey, that’s unfair. I can be physically present whilst you ‘rant’ or whatever. I can’t promise I’ll be emotionally invested or even listening, but at least I’ll be here. It’s either me or that kid with the bad accent, and I doubt you can be nearly as open with him.”

“Okay, fine,” Adrien said, walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth. “Here’s the deal. Ladybug doesn’t want to know who I am.”

“And that’s bad?”

“Well, yeah! I was totally prepared to be open with her and be like ta-dah! I’m Adrien Agreste and I’m in love with you.”

“Why is revealing yourself and you two getting together always synonymous in your mind?”

“Because once I reveal myself, there won’t be anything stopping us from getting together!”

“Did you miss the part where Ladybug rejected Chat Noir because she was in love with someone else? Do you really think her feelings are going to go out the window once she realizes you’re hot under all that leather too?”

Adrien quirked an eyebrow. “I think I liked it better when you weren’t contributing. You’re not exactly helping matters.”

“I’m a kwami of destruction, not of romance. I think you need to just pick someone who’s not Ladybug to get with in real life, then you won’t be this torn up about it.”

“I don’t want anyone other than Ladybug. She’s perfect.”

Plagg let out a snort of derision, flying away. “I’m done!”

That just left Adrien and his very sorry looking reflection. “You, Adrien Agreste, are enough. You’re good enough,” he repeated to himself. “It doesn’t matter if others see it like that or not, as long as _you_ believe it, that’s all you need. If you believe it, others will too.” He wasn’t sure where his nightly mantra had originated from, but the message was important. Sometimes he felt caught between his two identities; superhero Chat Noir and supermodel Adrien Agreste. He knew he was Chat Noir in his heart, but every day it was Adrien who greeted him in the mirror, Adrien who others would see. Everyone except Ladybug. She liked Chat for who he was, not because she was a fan of either of his personas.

 _But she doesn’t love you,_ his brain nagged. _She likes you, but that’s never going to be enough for you, now is it?_

It was with great difficulty that he turned his thoughts off and went to sleep, tossing and turning throughout the night.

“Good morning! You slept late!” Peter was chipper, way too chipper as they slid into the car, ready to head to school. He was right. Adrien had slept through his alarm, only waking when Nathalie barged into his room, telling him he was going to be late.

“Yeah, I don’t wanna hear it,” Adrien said, resting his head on Peter’s shoulder, desperate to catch a few more minutes of sleep before they reached the school. But of course, the ride was too short. He’d just closed his eyes when Peter was shaking him awake and practically dragging him up the front steps.

“Not that anyone will be complaining, but this outfit is a bit different than usual,” Peter commented, looking him up and down. Adrien glanced down, unsure of what Peter meant, and could’ve died on the spot. He was still in his pyjamas.

Granted, his pyjamas weren’t too embarrassing, that night he’d just worn a white t-shirt and grey sweatpants, but the shirt was a bit tighter than the clothes he was used to wearing to school, and he’d picked the sweatpants with the broken waist elastic, and they kept hanging low around his hips, revealing his Agreste brand boxer briefs. All he’d managed to grab in his half-asleep daze was a plum suit jacket.

“You couldn’t have told me _before_ we left?” Adrien hissed, pulling his emergency supply of safety pins out of his bag, unsure of how he was going to use them but determined to do something.

“I seem to recall you saying something about not wanting to hear it. Let’s fix your hair, it’s all over the place and there’s no way we’re going to get it to lay flat before classes start, not if you don’t have a brush.”

“What do you have in mind?”

What Peter had in mind turned out to be dragging Adrien over to where Marinette and Alya were sitting, minding their business, and giving a very convincing sales pitch.

“Okay, which one of you lovely ladies would like the extreme pleasure of braiding Mr. Agreste’s hair before class starts?” Peter grinned at them as Adrien glowered at his back, running his own hands through his hair, attempting to flatten it.

“Marinette is so good at braiding!” Alya supplied. “Plus, Peter and I have some things to discuss. We’ll leave you to it!” They left, whispering, and Adrien stood awkwardly in front of Marinette who seemed to have frozen in place.

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” he offered.

“No! I mean, no, it’s fine, I’m just not sure if it’ll turn out well or not.” She tumbled over her words in a typical Marinette fashion and he chuckled slightly.

“Well, I’m not too concerned about looking good, I’ve already shown up in my pyjamas.” He grinned at her, doing his best to ease the tension, almost surprised when her eyes landed around his abdomen. “Sorry, the waistband’s broken, they keep falling,” he grumbled, pulling his sweats back up.

“Uh…Sit here.” Marinette gestured in front of her, pulling out a hairbrush and elastics. Obediently, Adrien nestled himself in front of her, leaning back against her knees. Within a few moments he was in heaven, relishing the feeling of her fingers working his hair into a more manageable state. He was used to hairdressers playing with his hair, but something about this one time felt different. Small sighs kept escaping his lips, and he had no doubt that if he was Chat Noir he’d be purring. Too soon she was done, tying the elastics around the bottom.

He reached up, feeling his hair in two French braids. “Perfect,” he winked at her.

“They’re not my best, but…,” she trailed off, jumping when the bell rang. Peter and Alya returned, sly smiles on their faces.

“Marinette, I won’t be able to make it to lunch,” Alya said. “Peter and I have to tutor Adrien.”

“Uh…okay?” Marinette looked between Adrien, Alya, and Peter.

“Don’t look at me, I have no clue what they’re planning,” Adrien said, holding up his hands defensively.

“We’re planing on giving him the sex talk,” Peter beamed. “Can you believe he’s never taken a health class in his life?” The sound that Adrien let out could only be compared to a rat being stepped on. It was a sort of squeak that ripped up his throat and left him coughing after.

Marinette looked exactly how Adrien felt. Like she wanted a hole to open up in the ground, swallowing her whole.

“The bell rang, we can’t be late!” Alya chirped, dragging Marinette off.

Adrien had never dreaded a lunch hour so much in his life. Unfortunately, that only seemed to make it come faster, unhindered by his silent prayers for an akuma attack. Seemed as though the Papillon wanted Adrien to get his education too.

Peter and Alya had selected a secluded spot under a tree at the edge of the school grounds to conduct their lesson. When Adrien reluctantly joined them, Peter already had a PowerPoint open on his laptop.

“Welcome to your first lesson, Adrien,” Alya said seriously. “We have fired Gabriel Agreste from his position as your father, as he has provided you with an inadequate amount of information about this subject. From here on out, Peter and I are your father.”

“Okay.” Adrien blinked at them. Peter pressed the space bar on his laptop, the screen spinning around before filling with the words, ‘Your body and why it hates you’.

“So, let’s kick this off!” Peter seemed way too thrilled to be there. “I trust you probably have a pretty good understanding of what’s going on with you, but just to be sure, let’s cover sexual attraction and what controls it! Now, here’s our good friend Mr. Testosterone and estrogen estradiol!”

“Peter, I know all this stuff already, we don’t have to cover it. Really, I think I’ve figured that out on my own.” That was a bit of a lie; Adrien had no idea what an estrogen estradiol was or if it was a ‘what’, but he wasn’t about to admit it.

“Confident, are we?” Alya said. “Let’s get into female reproductive anatomy.” She skipped ahead a few slides and began to lecture Adrien on the subject. It was the first he’d ever heard of menstruation as Alya walked him through the fertility cycle. Well, that wasn’t true either. He’d heard girls mention it before, but he’d never really known how it worked, a situation which Alya was currently rectifying.

Ever the diligent student, he made a few notes on his tablet. Cramps, bleeding, mood swings; it didn’t sound fun.

“Any questions?” Peter concluded. “No? Good. Now it’s time for safe sex.”

“I know how to-”

“I guarantee you don’t,” Alya said. “I’ll let Peter take this one.”

“Okay,” Peter turned the computer towards himself slightly, reading off the screen. “So, when used correctly, birth control as a for of contraception is ninety-nine point seven percent successful. Meaning you can still get pregnant, even if it’s used perfectly. Well, not you. But whoever you’re with. So it’s better to use a condom if you’re not ready for the financial and emotional burden that is a child. Let’s put your skills to the test.” He finished reciting, handing Adrien a banana and a square package.

“What’s this?”

“Put it on,” Alya said. Adrien nodded slowly, carefully accepting the items from Peter. The condom package was harder to open than he’d expected and he felt extra pressured with an audience.

“I really didn’t expect you to fail this early on,” Peter commented, leaning back against the tree. Adrien resisted the urge to roll his eyes, finally managing to tear through the foil. He breathed a sigh of frustration, grabbing the banana and going to shove the condom onto it.

“Aggressive much?” Alya said. Adrien wasn’t enjoying himself as he tried to stretch the rubber over the banana’s stubborn peel. It just wasn’t working and he was growing more annoyed and- whoops.

“How’d you manage to stab the banana _through_ the condom?” Peter said with wonder. “I’ve never seen one rip like that, they’re usually pretty sturdy. Remind me not to buy this brand ever.”

“Adrien would you ever manhandle your dick like that?” Alya asked incredulously.

“I, uh…didn’t mean to do that, obviously.” He sat the ruined experiment down beside him.

“It’s all about patience,” Peter said. “Which brings us to our next point! When is it a good time to have sex! Number one: when you have consent from your partner! Consent is sexy. Number two: when you feel as though you’re ready.”

“How do I know I’m ready?”

“Hmm?” Peter tilted his head, looking away from his holy grail PowerPoint. “I didn’t write anything down about that, so I don’t know.”

“I’ll answer that,” Alya said. “You’ll be able to tell when the moment is right. There won’t be any pressure or anything, it’ll just feel natural. Don’t worry Adrien, you’ll know it when you feel it.” Just then the bell rang, ending Adrien’s lesson early.

“I’ll send you the rest of the PowerPoint, you can read through it on your own time and get back to us with any questions,” Peter said as they headed back to class.

“Great, thanks,” Adrien said, wishing he could forget the whole ordeal as soon as possible.

“And now that you’ve had the talk, you have my permission to bang Ladybug,” Peter grinned.

“You’re going to bang Ladybug?” Alya practically screeched. “Why didn’t I know? I want to bang Ladybug before you corrupt her, Agreste.”

“Corrupt?”

“Yes, corrupt! You and your stupid green eyes, perfect hair and teeth and skin and body and fashion sense!” Alya waved an arm at him. Adrien couldn’t help but feel as though this really wasn’t the day for compliments like that, given his current fashion situation, but he accepted it with a gracious nod nonetheless. “Girls just fall in love with you left and right, it’s offensive!”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Adrien waved her off. “No one’s falling in love with me. I’m just me.”

“That’s the thing! You’re so…so…gentlemanly! You’re so nice! And perfect! It’s infuriating, actually.” Alya crossed her arms over her chest, turning away from him just as Marinette walked up to them.

“Hey guys! How was lunch?”

“Great, Adrien is now licensed to fuck,” Peter said. Adrien wanted to smack him but settled for blushing profusely.

“And _apparently_ he’s planning on getting busy with Ladybug too!” Alya bemoaned. “The betrayal!”

“I’m not doing anything with anyone,” Adrien said firmly. The expression on Marinette’s face made him want to shut the conversation down right then and there. “Especially not Ladybug. Let’s just go to class.”

He grabbed Peter’s arm, pulling him into class. “Look, you made her upset,” he said, pointing to Marinette, who was staring at the table, obviously unhappy. Peter glanced at her, sparing a moment’s sympathy before turning to him.

“Hey, I didn’t do anything! Blame Alya, man, she’s the one who let out the Ladybug thing.”

“Marinette’s my friend, I don’t want to ruin anything between us because of a stupid comment.”

“Nothing ruined. So, you gonna see Ladybug anytime soon?”

Chat Noir would be seeing her tonight. Adrien, however, had no idea when his civilian self would interact with her again. “I don’t know. She comes and goes, you know.”

“Do you think if you did see her again, you’d make a move?” Adrien really wasn’t used to the amount of interest Peter was taking in his love life.

“Do you have anyone you’re interested in?” He interrupted quickly.

“There was one girl, but her dad turned out to be a weapons dealer who tried to kill me at homecoming and she moved away, so no.” Peter said it as casually as if he’d mentioned that he had two cats and grew his own basil. Adrien chose not to comment. So far every conversation about Peter’s life in New York had wound up with him talking about someone who had died/almost died. He was starting to get the vibe that Peter’s personal life was a bit of a disaster.

School was over soon enough, thank god, and Peter watched Adrien practice his piano after school. Adrien wasn’t really used to actually practicing the piano, let alone with an audience, so he played one of the easier pieces he knew.

“Is that Bob Dylan?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, Knocking On Heaven’s Door,” Adrien replied, fingers dancing over the keys. “My dad used to love this song before…before he stopped listening to music like that. We always were a musical family, and I’d sit here and practice and my mom would sing. She had the loveliest voice, you know? I always wanted to sound like her, but it’s impossible to imitate perfection.” He threw a small smile Peter’s way before focusing on increasing the complexity of the piece. “Sorry if I’m rambling.”

“It’s a beautiful song,” Peter commented. “You’re a good player- that’s not the right word. Pianist? Yeah, you’re a good pianist. I’m sure she’d be proud.”

“I haven’t improved since,” Adrien admitted. He was good, sure, but his music lacked something, and he didn’t know what.

“Makes sense,” Peter said. “You’re missing your muse.”

“My muse?”

“Sure. You just need to channel your emotions into the music. You need to find someone to play that duet with you, someone who will sing the words while you play. Harmony or something. I’m not a music person.”

“I can tell,” Adrien laughed. “It’s just funny that music was once such a huge part of my identity, and now it’s just another thing I have to do. Playing Bach, Mozart, whatever, it doesn’t make me happy like it used to.”

“Then just write your own stuff.”

“You say that like it’s easy.”

“Cuz it is,” Peter said. “See, you just sit here like buh do bah dum, lots of emotional stuff. It’s cathartic, I’ve heard.”

“You’re going to be a real superstar,” Adrien said sarcastically, beginning a chord progression to lead into Pachabel’s Canon in D Major. It was another one of his favourites, probably his dream song for a wedding. He let his thoughts drift to Ladybug, wondering if she would be his bride. It was a foolish dream, for sure, but he indulged in it just this once.

“There!” Peter said. “That’s it, you’ve got inspiration! See how much better it sounds?”

He was right. Adrien wasn’t playing how the song was supposed to be played, throwing staccatos and grace notes in when he felt like it, emphasizing other notes too. It was mildly liberating.

“It’s been nice, but I’ve got homework,” Peter said glumly. As soon as he left, Adrien went back to Bob Dylan. This time he took Peter’s advice, pouring his soul into it. The chords sounded brand new, the melody taking on a new meaning in his heart. He was singing before he realized it, not caring about how he sounded, simply allowing himself to take a moment to himself. Just one little moment where nothing in the world existed except him and his music.

“It’s getting dark,” he sang to himself, ignoring the way a tear slipped out from the corner of his eye and down his cheek. “Too dark to see.” He had a perfect life on the outside. People would love to be him; adored him. But to be adored was to be lonely if there was no real love.

He invented a run in the song, his voice breaking on the top note as emotion overwhelmed him. He just felt so _tired._ Both hands fell from the piano with an ugly clunk of random notes as he buried his face in his palms, letting tears he’d been holding back for far too long fall. It’d been so long, Adrien didn’t even know why he was crying. Not even Plagg had anything to say.

“I’m sorry, I’ll go.” The voice startled him, his breath hitching in his throat as he looked up, only to see Ladybug standing in his window, looking down at him with concern.

“No, please,” he whispered. “Stay.” Ladybug tentatively climbed down from the window, crossing the room to sit next to him on the bench, carefully putting an arm around him. He leaned into her, breathing in the sweet scent that always seemed to follow her, like bread and strawberries.

“Are you okay?” She whispered, bringing Adrien back to his senses. 

“Yeah, that song always gets me in my feels, though.” He let out a shaky breath. “Things are actually going really well.” He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, ignoring the dark splotches his tears left. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m complaining.”

Ladybug looked like a deer caught in headlights. “I, uh, heard the music, and it sounded really good, so I was just going to come tell you.”

“I was playing that loud?”

“No, I’ve just got really good hearing.” Was Ladybug…blushing? “Do you want to play me something?”

“Any requests?” Adrien said, cracking his knuckles.

“What songs do you know how to play?”

“I can play anything.” He gave her a grin that was borderline Chat Noir-esque, but he was feeling risky. “What mood are you feeling? Upbeat? Happy? Sad? Romantic?” He raised an eyebrow slowly, leaning closer to her, eyes dropping to her lips. To his absolute delight, Ladybug was leaning closer, eyes slowly closing and-

BANG!

The floor shook slightly with the sound of an explosion coming from the next room over. Adrien leapt to his feet. “Peter!”

“I’m fine!” He called back. “Don’t come in! I just dropped…something.”

“That was a very loud something,” Adrien said.

“I should go,” Ladybug moved towards the window, readying her yoyo. “It was nice seeing you again, Adrien.”

“You too,” Adrien waved, trying to push the fact that he had been _thisclose_ to kissing Ladybug from his mind. Something told him he’d be replaying that moment in his head for weeks to come, though.

Dinner was a blur. Adrien scarfed down his food as fast as possible, eager to get out and on patrol. Peter matched his energy, apparently just as excited to get back to his homework. Adrien hadn’t even remembered any being assigned. Maybe he had to do something for his other school? It didn’t really matter, it was one less thing Adrien had to worry about as they bade each other a goodnight.

He was way too early for patrol; the sun was still setting. Adrien was just kind of running around, hoping Ladybug would see him and join him too. After about half an hour of running, he started to get tired, so he sat himself down on a random rooftop, staring out at the sunset.

“Chat?” He turned, almost surprised to see Spiderman standing there.

“You early for patrol too?” Adrien tried to hide his disappointment at the superhero’s appearance. He appreciated Spidey, for sure, but he really just wanted some time alone with his Lady.

“Only to pass on a message,” he said, making no move to sit down. “I have to go to London tonight, something cropped up. I won’t be able to do patrol, but if anything major happens, Ladybug has my contact. I can get here in thirty minutes, give or take. Otherwise, have a good night!” And with that he was gone.

“Well, that was easier than I thought,” Adrien mused aloud. Now it really was just going to be him and Ladybug, if she ever showed up. As if she could read his thoughts from afar, there she was, a red dot a few blocks away, swinging from building to building. Chat waved excitedly, a massive grin on his face.

 _Calm down, don’t lose your mind,_ he reminded himself, taking a deep breath as she landed in front of him. “Hey.”

“Hi?” Ladybug looked at him curiously. “Are you okay? You’re looking at me weird.”

“I was simply left speechless by your beauty,” he quipped, leaning down to brush a kiss against her knuckles. Naturally, she drew her hand away.

“Oh so it’s one of _those_ nights. Where’s Spiderman.”

“He had some business to attend to in London,” Adrien said, leaning closer to her. “Looks like it’s just you and me, Buginette.”

“For the love of god,” Ladybug muttered. “It’s a good thing you’re cute, or I would’ve kicked you to the curb long ago.”

“You think I’m cute?” Adrien squealed. “Really?”

Ladybug regarded him with a deadpan expression. “Yeah, like a kitten. Don’t get it all twisted up in that head of yours.”

“My head is empty practically all the time, so whenever My Lady says something, I simply cannot think of anything else! There’s nothing else to distract me.” Adrien flopped down on the roof dramatically, staring up at her. She seemed unimpressed.

“Let’s go, chaton. Paris isn’t going to patrol itself.”

He huffed, annoyed, as she took off into the setting sun. Readying his baton, he resolved that he would simply only patrol until the night really had fallen, then he would retire to the Eiffel Tower and wait for Ladybug to find him. So he got in a real productive twenty minutes of actual work before he decided that enough was enough.

“Chat? There’s no way you’re done already.” Ah, Ladybug had finally arrived. Time to turn on the charm. As if it wasn’t already ramped up as far as it could go.

“I thought we could take an easy night and just kind of hang out,” he suggested, fingers crossed behind his back that she would agree. And for three long seconds it looked like she was going to argue. Then she sighed, shrugging her shoulders, and sat down.

“Fine.”

“So, how have you been?” He sat across from her, eyes never leaving her face. He was partially looking for signs that she’d been overworked; a lot of the time she put on a brave façade, no matter what she was dealing with.

“I’ve been okay,” she said, glancing out at the night sky. “School’s as busy as ever. I’m just glad we haven’t had any really intense akuma attacks lately. I thought bringing Spidey onto the team would cause Papillon to amp them up for sure, but he’s been pretty quiet about the whole thing. It’s making me nervous.”

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Adrien said. “Just enjoy the downtime while you can.”

“Yeah, I suppose I will,” she said. “My school’s having a fall dance soon, so that’ll be fun.”

He inspected his claws, gears in his head turning. “You’ll want to bring someone strikingly handsome as your date. Someone to be your eye candy, you know? Someone like-”

“I already know the perfect person,” Ladybug interrupted dreamily. Adrien glanced up, surprised, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was gazing off into the distance.

“Oh,” he whispered. “I mean, that’s cool! As long as you have fun.”

“But he probably won’t want to go with me,” Ladybug admitted, looking at him. He quickly masked his own feelings beneath a grin.

“Well he’d be dumb not to, I mean, you’re great. Like really great. Probably even out of the Ladybug costume. No, definitely out of the Ladybug costume. You’re just a great person all around. He’s lucky to be the subject of your affections.” He stumbled over his words a bit, his brain reminding him over and over that Ladybug didn’t really like him, not the way he liked her.

“Thanks, Chat, but I think you’re wrong. I can’t be Ladybug all the time. In real life, I’m clumsy, I can barely stand on my own two feet to the point where I’m not trusted to hold anything breakable, I’m awkward, and I second guess myself all the time.”

He smiled. “Sounds adorable.”

“You’re the only one who would say that,” she laughed. “And you only say that because you’re…”

“In love with you? Yeah, maybe. Or maybe I’m just lucky enough to see how amazing you are. Anyone who’s taken more than two seconds to look at you has fallen head over heels for you, hate to break it to you.”

“Chat…,” she sounded sad. Her eyes wouldn’t meet his as she stared purposefully at the ground.

“It’s fine, My Lady. I really hope things go well for you with that boy. You deserve someone who will make you happy.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, I’m sorry,” Ladybug was truly apologetic.

“I don’t want you to not talk to me because you’re worried about hurting my feelings,” Adrien said simply. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“But Chat, I don’t want you to be pining after me forever,” Ladybug said, placing a hand over his. “You deserve love too, and I’m sorry I can’t give it to you right now.”

Adrien swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn’t want to cry in front of Ladybug again. Not twice in one day. Granted, she wouldn’t know he’d already cried on her shoulder, but he didn’t want to make her feel bad. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t return his feelings.

“It’s fine, I know you love me in your own way, even if that way isn’t the way I want. You deserve the world, Ladybug, and I know I could never give it to you. The best I can do is the moon and stars and the Paris skyline, but you deserve better.” He turned to her, leaning in before he could second guess himself and pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek. A friendly one. Ladybug was frozen beneath him.

“Goodnight, My Lady,” he said, readying his baton and heading out into the night.

Home seemed lonelier than usual. He detransformed and headed into Peter’s room, only to find a small note left on his desk, explaining that he’d been called out as part of the Stark internship and may or may not be back for school in the morning. Peter had only been there for a few days and already Adrien was having difficulty remembering life without him. And now the house felt empty without him.

He headed back to his room, attempting to block Ladybug from his mind. But that was difficult to do when everything reminded him of her. Knowing he couldn’t stay there, he gave Plagg some more cheese, begging him to transform him again. Begrudgingly, Plagg complied, allowing Adrien to vault off into the night in search of the only other person he could talk to in the suit.

As sneakily as a cat, Adrien landed on Marinette’s roof, carefully wrapping his knuckles against the skylight. It was only a few moments before she opened it, poking her head out. She seemed surprised to see him.

“Hey Princess,” he said with a lopsided grin. “I know it’s late, but I could really just use a friend right now.”

“Come on in,” Marinette said, disappearing back into her room. He willingly followed her. “Let me grab you something to eat, and a blanket. You’re shivering.” Adrien hadn’t even realized he was cold until she pointed it out. She left to go downstairs, soon returning with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of assorted cookies.

“My parents are already in bed since they have to wake up early to get started in the bakery, so the cookies aren’t fresh from the oven, but-”

“They’re perfect,” he said, accepting the mug she offered him.

“And here’s a kind of blanket thingy,” she held him a grey, fuzzy blob that was a cross between an extremely oversized hoodie and a throw blanket. He pulled it on, instantly feeling warmer. “I make them in my spare time and give them out to those in need, and right now, I’d say you’re in need.”

“Thank you, Marinette.”

“So what brings you here this late, if you don’t mind me asking?” Marinette sat down on her bed, watching him as he strolled around her room. She had a _lot_ of pictures of him. Not Chat Noir. Adrien Agreste.

“Before I answer that, can I ask you why you’ve got all these pictures of that supermodel boy on your walls?”

“We’re friends, and I’m making him something for his birthday, so I needed inspiration.” She was bright red. He decided not to question the artistic process.

“Okay, I guess it’s my turn to answer. I’m here because I’ve accepted that I’m simply just not the guy that Ladybug is interested in. And that’s fine, whatever, it just left me feeling kind of empty. She was talking about this guy she’s into, and how she’s going to ask him to her school’s dance, and the way her eyes lit up when she was talking about him…I just realized there’s no way I can compete with that.” He settled on Marinette’s chaise lounge, staring into his cocoa. “And I’d never admit it to her, but she’d the best part of every day. Whenever I get to see her, it’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist. I don’t really have anyone to go home to, so I always drag out every time I get to see her because she’s just like the sun. And I’ve tried to move past her, but I really just can’t. I know she loves me as a friend, like a second half, but I’m not good with that sort of thing.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette whispered.

“I’m not good at being loved. I love others, for sure, but whenever someone tells me they love me, a small part of my brain is always telling me they’re lying.”

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

“Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Adrien nodded in recognition of the quote. “My dad never wanted me to read that book. Thought it would inspire teenage rebellion. Spoiler alert, I just checked it out of the library at my school and never told him I read it.”

Marinette laughed. “Oh Chat.”

“I guess there’s some truth in that, though. Who knows if I’d even be able to handle it if Ladybug loved me like that. Guess we’ll never find out though, huh Princess?”

“Maybe one day,” Marinette said. “Who knows what Ladybug is going through right now. Maybe she doesn’t know how to accept _your_ love.”

“God, I hope so. Thanks for listening, Marinette. I won’t keep you up any longer, I know you’ve got school tomorrow. I hope Adrien likes his present.”

“Anytime Chat. You keep that blanket. Wouldn’t want you to get cold on the way back.” She wrapped him up in a butterfly-inducing hug. That wasn’t right. Adrien had never felt like that when she’d hugged him.

 _You’re tired. You’re imagining things,_ he told himself as he wished Marinette a goodnight. It had felt good to rant, to get everything off his chest that he couldn’t go to anyone else with. Plus, when he was Chat Noir, Marinette held full conversations with him, never tripping over her words or furniture like she did so often at school. He really liked his Princess.

As a friend, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Adrien :( But in order for him and Marinette to get closer, there had to be something to slightly deter him from Ladybug :/ At least he’s now educated, though. Initially this chapter was going to be about his birthday, but then I realized the boy’s probably never had a health class in his life and I just had to make sure he got that education before he does anything with Miss Ladybug. So birthday will come next chapter. Thanks for reading!


	4. Le Phénix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we get to wish Adrien a super awesome happy birthday, quickly meet Felix, have Spiderman give Adrien his first birthday cake ever, a little bit of Marinette’s POV and a brand new bombshell dropped by Maître Fu. Also lots of Peter and Adrien literally just being the purest friendship to ever exist <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are back! This chapter is actually where proper plot stuff finally starts to come into play and we’re kind of setting the scene for future chapters but there’s also an alarming amount of self indulgence by yours truly. I’ve been wanting to write this chapter (at least the last little bit) since I had the idea so here it goes!

“Happy sixteenth birthday, Adrien!” Peter’s yells of delight awoke Adrien far earlier than he would’ve liked. Even still, he couldn’t bring himself to be mad at the excited boy who was standing at the foot of his bed.

“I thought you weren’t getting back until later,” Adrien mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah, well, I hitched a ride with Spiderman,” Peter said, attempting to sound casual and failing miserably.

“No way!” Adrien mustered as much enthusiasm as possible. He was still wearing the blanket/hoodie that Marinette had given him that night. It was like being wrapped up in a hug. And that hug was making him very sleepy.

“I mean, it was just your usual day as a Stark intern. Anyways! It’s your birthday and I got you something!” Peter produced a hastily-wrapped package from behind his back. “I looked literally everywhere for it, so you better love it.”

Adrien accepted the gift, carefully opening it, surprised when multiple smaller packages fell out. But the main thing was a red hoodie with large, black polka dots. “A Ladybug hoodie?”

“And pyjamas,” Peter said proudly as Adrien lifted the hoodie out, revealing the pyjamas in all their glory. The pants matched the hoodie in the same fire truck-red hue with black polka dots, accompanied by a black t-shirt. “I designed them myself, got some dude to print them onto the clothes at like one am last night. He was _not_ thrilled but it’s kind of hard to say no to Spiderman’s friend.”

Adrien lifted up the black t-shirt, unfolding it to see the design. It read ‘Bad Bitch’ in rhinestones, with ladybugs printed around it.

“Well Mr. Model, do you love it or do you love it?” Peter grinned at him. “That was literally the only black t-shirt I could find at like one in the morning so you better love it.”

“If I wasn’t so choked up over the sentiment of it all, I’d have kicked you,” Adrien said mildly as he reached for one of the smaller packages. He opened it, stared at it, then up at Peter, then back at the gift. It was a concert ticket.

“Okay, so, the concert isn’t for like, a month, but I gave one to Nino, Alya, Marinette, and myself, so on that night, we are sneaking out of this house and going to what I’m assuming is going to be your first ever concert. The rest of the gifts are assuming we manage to go.”

Adrien unwrapped fluorescent makeup, light up arm bands and shoelaces. All just the sort of thing you’d see in your average stock photo of teens at a concert. It was perfect.

“Peter, I don’t know what to say.”

“A thank you usually does the trick.”

“It doesn’t seem sufficient.”

Peter simply rolled his eyes at him. “I’ve gotten special permission from your bodyguard to let us walk to school today, too. So get dressed, we’re going to the bakery for breakfast.”

“How on earth did you manage that?”

“Oh, uh, I kind of beat him at an arm wrestle.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped. “You…beat him?”

“I can be stronger than I look,” Peter said cryptically.

Ten minutes later they were on their way to the bakery, Adrien dressed in his brand new hoodie. It felt weird putting it on, given that Ladybug had just straight up rejected him that night, but he wasn’t about to tell Peter that.

“Good morning, Mr. and Ms. Dupain-Cheng!” Adrien waved to Marinette’s parents as they entered.

“Heyyyyyyy!” Peter practically floated into the bakery. “I should warn you,” he turned to Adrien. “I didn’t sleep last night at all. I’m running on coffee and energy drinks.”

“Good to know,” Adrien said as they picked out their breakfast.

“Mama! Have you seen my white blouse? It’s Adrien’s birthday today and I want to look _perfect_.” Marinette entered the bakery, looking at her phone.

“Oh my gosh, hey Marinette,” Peter said enthusiastically. She looked up and immediately froze, face turning bright red.

“Cute pyjamas,” Adrien added. He’d seem them last night as Chat Noir, but he definitely hadn’t been in the mood for complimenting outfits. He watched as her eyes landed on his hoodie, taking it all in before sliding back up to his face. He gave her a slightly awkward smile.

“Adrien!” She squeaked before turning and running straight back the way she’d come.

“Did I say something wrong?” Adrien glanced at Peter, then at Marinette’s parents.

“On the contrary,” Ms. Dupain-Cheng said. Whatever that meant.

“Well, can you tell her we’ll see her at school?” Adrien asked.

“Of course,” her dad replied. “Happy birthday, the food’s on the house.”

“Oh, thank you!” Adrien beamed at them before heading out. Marinette’s parents were possibly the nicest people ever. He’d met them a few times as both Adrien and Chat Noir, and they’d been so sweet every time. Sometimes he wished they could replace his less-than-snuggly father, but then he would remind himself that his dad still loved him. In his own way.

“Any special plans for today?” Peter asked, devouring his cinnamon bun. “Since it’s your birthday, you get to pick one hundred percent of the day’s activities. If you say we’re skipping class, we’re skipping class. If you say we’re committing arson, then hell, I guess we’re committing arson.”

Adrien stared at him. “Is that what Americans do on their birthdays?”

“No, I usually just cry,” Peter said with a shrug. “It seems customary. I never consciously decide to be sad, it just winds up happening one way or another.”

“Well, let’s see. I’ll go to school, we’ll go home. Most likely my dad won’t even come out to wish me a happy birthday. Usually Nathalie will remember and at least give me a sympathetic look. Then I usually just sit in my room. That’s how my past fifteen birthdays have gone, minus the one where Nino got akumatized.”

It was Peter’s turn to stare at him. “That’s literally so depressing. We’re not doing any of that pity party stuff. I say we get Nino after school and head to the arcade and just generally mess around. We’ll go out to some restaurant and tell them it’s your birthday to get free food. Sound good?”

“Yeah, that sounds great actually,” Adrien said. “But I feel like I’m already pushing it with my dad.”

“He can’t get mad at you on your birthday! That’s like, the number one rule of birthdays!”

“Adrichou!” Adrien physically cringed at the sound of Chloe’s squeal as she threw herself into his arms. “Happy happy happy birthday!” She pressed kisses all over his face, making him cringe harder.

“Chloe, it doesn’t appear as though Adrien is appreciating that,” Peter said stiffly beside him.

To Adrien’s utter surprise, she let him go, swinging her ponytail in indifference. “Either way, happy birthday. I really hope it’s a good one.”

“Thanks, Chlo.” Most people didn’t understand why Adrien still tolerated Chloe. And in some ways, he didn’t. But she’d been his only friend growing up, his cousin Felix excluded, and had been the only person he could talk to when his mother had died. She had always been bratty, sure, but he couldn’t really pick and choose friends back then.

“Let’s get to class,” Adrien said to Peter. He didn’t see Nino anywhere, but that wasn’t surprising. He was usually talking to Alya at this time in the morning.

“I think someone wants to talk to you,” Peter pointed to the bottom of the steps where Marinette was standing, holding something behind her back with one hand and hitting herself in the head with the other.

“Uh…she seems kind of busy?”

“Just go talk to her, okay? I’ll meet you in class!” Peter quickly danced through the door, leaving Adrien at the top of the steps.

“Marinette?” He walked down the steps, their meeting from the previous night still fresh in his mind. Of course, he couldn’t say anything about it, given that it was Chat Noir who had visited her, but still.

“Oh!” She jumped slightly. “Birthday! Happy Adrien! I mean Adrien Birthday Happy! I mean here!” She thrust a neatly wrapped parcel into his arms.

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Adrien said, despite the fact he’d known full well she was making something.

“I made it, actually.”

“Can I open it now?” He picked at the tape sealing the pink wrapping paper, awaiting her response.

“Uh, yeah! If you want to.” She looked at him nervously, biting her bottom lip.

“Okay,” he smiled at her, carefully sliding the bow off the package. “Already very stylish,” he commented, sliding the black bow over his head, making a nice little headband. Marinette simply stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

Careful not to actually rip the wrapping, Adrien slid out the cushy present. It was an oversized jean jacket, light washed, with an intricate design painted on the back. It was the palace from Tangled, with all the floating lanterns, and it was literally one of the most beautiful pieces of art Adrien had ever laid his eyes on.

“Peter said you liked that movie,” Marinette said quietly.

“Yeah, it’s one of my favourites.” Adrien ripped his eyes away from the painting with some difficulty. He and Peter had only watched that movie a few days ago and she’d made it that fast? “You painted this?”

“I mean, it took a bit, but yeah, I did. I tried.”

“Mari, it’s beautiful, thank you so much, I have no idea how to properly thank you for this,” he breathed, slipping the jacket overtop his hoodie. “There, now I’m wearing both my gifts from both my best friends.” He grinned at her, doing his best to express all his gratitude through his eyes alone.

“Best friends?” Marinette squeaked.

“Yeah, you and Peter? I thought that was kind of obvious? I mean, you gave me my lucky charm.” He pulled her beaded charm out of his pant pocket, holding it up for her to see. She’d given it to him when they’d played video games together, and he’d never left it behind since. He didn’t know if it really was lucky or not, but whenever he was stressed he’d hold onto it and it would calm him down, remind him that people out there cared about him.

She was still staring at him, so Adrien stared back until it got beyond awkward. “Are you doing anything tonight by any chance?” He braved, just wanting her to say something, anything. “Peter was planning some sort of arcade run for my birthday, and I’d love it if you were there too.”

“Yes! I mean no! I mean no, I’m not doing anything, yes I will be there!”

“Okay, cool, we’ll get together after school. Feel free to bring Alya, too!” Adrien headed back up the steps, holding the door for her. “You coming?”

“No, I just need one moment!” Marinette said, playing with her ponytails.

Adrien could’ve sworn he heard a high-pitched squeal as the door closed behind him, but he could’ve been hearing things.

It seemed like everyone knew it was his birthday; the well-wishes kept rolling in. Alya even went so far as to put a post dedicated to him up on the Ladyblog wishing him a happy birthday. Naturally, she’d posted the ugliest photo of him she could find, although Peter assured him it wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought.

A small group gathered after school to head to the arcade. It seemed it had gone beyond just Peter, Nino, and Adrien as soon as Alya had gotten involved.

“Who’s ready?” Kim yelled, pumping his fist in the air. Adrien was ready to cheer when his phone bleeped, a message from Nathalie displaying itself at the top of his screen.

“I can’t go,” he said sadly, shoulders dropping. “My cousin Felix is coming over for dinner. He’s already at my house, so I have to go greet him. Sorry guys.”

“What? But it’s your birthday!” Nino complained. “That’s not fair!”

“It’s fine, it’ll be nice seeing Felix again,” Adrien lied. Truth was, Felix had changed after his dad’s death. They’d gotten along great as kids, but the last time Adrien had seen him, Felix had been downright mean. Not the type of person he wanted to spend his birthday with.

“I’m coming with you,” Peter said. “Maybe next time my dudes.”

Adrien’s bodyguard was already waiting for him with the car. He slid in with a sigh, resting his head in his hands.

“Why do I get the vibe that you don’t want to see Felix?” Peter asked. “Is he like, super mean?”

“Sort of,” Adrien said. “At least he was last time. Maybe he’ll be alright this time around.”

He didn’t have enough time to mentally prepare himself before they were pulling up back home and heading in the front door. Felix was standing there, dressed in his usual suit, hair slicked back. The expression on his face insinuated it was not going to be a pleasant visit.

“Cousin,” Felix said curtly, shaking Adrien’s hand.

“Felix,” Adrien said with more warmth than he thought Felix really warranted. “Your visit was such a surprise.”

“You’re British,” Peter said in English. Felix turned to look at him, sizing him up.

“And you’re American, aren’t you? Tragic.” Felix made no move to shake Peter’s hand.

“Okay, Artemis Fowl wannabe, someone butter your toast wrong this morning? I’m just kidding, I’m not mean. I’m Peter.” Peter strode forwards, gripping Felix in a hug. The disgruntled expression on Felix’s face made Adrien laugh. “You two look almost identical! That’s so weird!”

“So I’ve been told. Adrien, why is this lapdog of a human being at your house?”

“Hmm, Peter? Oh, he lives here now,” Adrien said.

“Felix! What do you like to do?” Peter seemed determined to make Felix slap him. “Do you like Star Wars? Cuz I love Star Wars. You look like a Star Wars fan, and I bet your favourite character is Obi-Wan! Did I get it right?”

 _Here it comes,_ Adrien thought. _Peter is about to get slapped._

“Actually, my favourite character is Anakin,” Felix replied stiffly.

“Anakin! He’s so whiny!” Peter rolled his eyes. “I bet you just like him cuz he’s a good pilot and whatever. But he’s so anti-rules! I’d have pegged you as someone who would want the character to live by the Jedi code!”

It was official, Peter had completely lost Adrien. He really had no idea what they were talking about, but Peter was talking and Felix was replying; now arguing about their chosen characters, and it was truly a sight to behold.

“Peter works for Tony Stark,” Adrien jumped in during a lull in the Star Wars talk. “He’s met the Avengers.”

Felix’s eyes actually widened, the first real expression Adrien had seen on his face thus far, looking at Peter with a newfound respect. “Really? How did you even apply for that?”

“I didn’t,” Peter said simply. “Tony Stark showed up at my apartment and asked me to intern for him.”

“Does he let you take home any cool tech?”

“I didn’t bring much of it with me, but if we go up to my room I can show you our computer database.” Peter led Felix up the stairs, shooting Adrien a questioning look.

“I’ll be up in a minute,” Adrien said. The door to his father’s study had just opened. Peter nodded in reply, quickly disappearing into his room. Adrien couldn’t blame him. Gabriel Agreste was not really the sunshiney sort.

“Adrien,” his father’s chilly voice seemed to cause the room’s temperature to drop by ten degrees.

“Yes, Father?” Adrien faced his dad, looking up into his stone grey eyes. At nearly seven feet tall, Gabriel Agreste was an intimidating figure to behold.

“Where is Felix?” Adrien had to stop his disappointment from showing on his face. It wasn’t like he expected a present from his dad; he’d received his first present from him the year before. At this point, all he wanted was at least an acknowledgement that it was his birthday.

“Peter is showing him something to do with Star Wars or Iron Man,” Adrien didn’t plan on telling him that Peter worked for Tony Stark. He wasn’t sure how well his dad would take that information and he didn’t want to put Peter in a potentially awkward situation.

“Very well. I have some work to finish up.” And that was the end of conversation. Adrien could feel it. It was like his dad had reached out and closed a door between them, blocking Adrien from sight and mind.

Mood significantly deflated, Adrien joined Peter and Felix in Peter’s room. Felix was scrolling through the computer with wide eyes, Peter hanging over his shoulder and providing commentary.

“Now this is just the description and programming for one of Iron Man’s boots in Mark 85. This one was stored inside the arc reactor in his chest, it was really impressive tech, actually. He designs all this himself, I’ve just got access to some of it.” He glanced up, spotting Adrien in the doorway. “That was a speedy talk.”

“Ah, well, you know,” Adrien said. “There wasn’t much said.”

“Did he at least wish you a happy birthday?” Peter looked like he already knew the answer, and Adrien could tell his disappointment was showing on his face.

“It’s whatever. I actually saw him, though. That’s unusual. Last year he didn’t even leave his room.”

“Adrien…,” Peter gripped him in a hug.

“It’s fine, I promise,” Adrien gave him a quick pat on the back.

“Uncle Gabe never really was one for emotions,” Felix spun in Peter’s chair. “Then again, neither am I. But I’ll still wish you a happy birthday.”

“Thanks, Felix. If I’d known you were coming over, I’d have invited Chloe too.” Adrien bit back a grin at Felix’s scowl. Felix and Chloe had always argued as children, but Adrien also had a sneaking suspicion they’d always had a soft spot for each other.

“I can’t believe you still speak to that Bourgeois girl. She’s so clingy.” Felix rolled his eyes.

“And here I was under the impression the two of you were still in contact.” Adrien quirked an eyebrow.

“I wondered what sort of guy Chloe would fall for. Why am I not surprised that he shares the same face as Adrien?” Peter tapped his chin, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“I don’t have anything with Chloe,” Felix’s voice dropped an octave. “Let’s drop it.”

It was at that moment that Nathalie chose to interrupt them for dinner. Of course birthdays were no occasion to abandon the diet, so there was no cake. Felix and Peter continued to discuss their similar interests, making sure to include Adrien in the conversation, even if Adrien had no opinion over which was better: Clone Wars or The Mandalorian. He simply agreed with the points both parties made, avoiding taking an particular stance.

By the time Felix’s departure came, Peter and Felix had swapped contact information. Adrien was just generally surprised at the unlikely friendship.

“Until next time, Adrien. And you, you weren’t bad for an American.” Felix shook both their hands stiffly.

“You weren’t bad for a Brit,” Peter returned the banter. “We gotta have a movie marathon next time I’m in London.”

“Sure,” Felix gave them both a genuine smile before heading down to the car that was waiting to take him to the train station. All Adrien could think about was going back to his room and transforming and heading out into the night. It was Thursday. There was no patrols to do, meaning there would be no Ladybug out and about to run into and make awkward conversation with. Just him, a lonely cat in the night.

He would’ve ran off if it hadn’t been for Peter. His big brown eyes were filled with sympathy as they headed back upstairs to Adrien’s room. “Do you want to talk? I can tell it’s bothering you.”

Adrien sighed, looking out the window. “I’m used to it.”

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” Peter had a point.

“I just thought we were making progress. I mean, last year he got me an actual present.” He walked over to his dresser, pulling out the baby-blue scarf his father had given him the year before. “And I thought that was a sign that better things were on the way. I guess not.”

“He got you a scarf made by Marinette?” Peter asked, squinting at the scarf.

“What?”

“It has her signature, right there,” Peter pointed at one of the ends of the scarf. Sure enough, in thread the same colour as the scarf, Marinette had stitched her name. Such a tiny detail, so easily overlooked, yet it brought so many things into focus all at once.

“He stole Marinette’s gift to me,” he said. It was the only logical explanation. Marinette would have said something if his dad had bought it off of her. He hadn’t gotten a present from her, but he’d seen her that morning at school with a wrapped gift. Why hadn’t he put two and two together? How had he been so stupid as to think his father actually cared?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Peter whispered.

“This isn’t your fault, it’s his,” Adrien actually felt angry. Usually he buried negative emotions like that, but now it was bubbling up to the surface. “I’m sorry, do you mind if I just…?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave you be,” Peter said. “Goodnight Adrien.” He looked very sorry as he left the room.

“I knew it!” Plagg waited no time before zipping out from under Adrien’s jacket. “I knew there was no way your dad got you that scarf; he’s not really an expert on accessories. I mean have you seen that tie he wears? And those glasses! They do nothing for his face shape!”

“Plagg, I really don’t need this right now. Just transform me, please.” Plagg, for once, complied without another word. And so Chat Noir set off into the night, preparing to throw himself a little pity party atop the Eiffel Tower. He landed nimbly on the highest level, settling down to look at the stars. It was a quiet night, not too cold, not too warm.

Just as he was preparing to let out a little sorrowful melody, a light flickered to life near his foot. Then another a few inches away. Within a matter of seconds, the small area he’d selected was alight with warm lights, a figure emerging from the shadows.

“Happy birthday Chat Noir,” Spiderman said. He was carrying a cake, with birthday candles. It was the first time Adrien had ever had a birthday cake on his birthday. He could have cried. “Sorry I couldn’t be there for patrol yesterday.”

“It’s fine,” Adrien breathed, watching as Spidey set the cake in front of him. “Is this a real cake?”

“I mean, I hope so. I paid for it with real money at a real bakery. I took the liberty of decorating it myself, though,” Spiderman said, prompting Adrien to look down at the top of the cake. It was written in clumsy letters with icing from the sort of tubes you get at the grocery store.

“Bon anniversery Chat Noir,” it read, with what seemed to be his best attempt at a cat underneath it. It was terrible and Adrien loved it.

“What are you waiting for? Make a wish!”

“A wish?”

“Yeah, while you blow out the candles. Don’t say it out loud, tho. Then it won’t come true.”

What did he wish for? Lots of things crowded Adrien’s mind before he finally settled on one. _I really hope everything works out,_ Adrien thought before blowing out the candles. It was harder than he’d thought, and a two stayed alight even after he’d given it his best blow.

“Wow, two girlfriends? What a player,” Spidey laughed as a gust of wind blew in, blowing one of them out. “Never mind, just one.”

“I wish,” Adrien rolled his eyes at him, puffing the final candle out. “I really messed things up with Ladybug yesterday.”

“Tell me about it while we eat,” Spidey said.

“And how are we going to do that? I don’t see plates, or a knife, and you can’t eat with your mask!”

“Good point. Karen, remove mouth masking.” Spiderman’s mask dissolved around his mouth, revealing Adrien’s first glance at his skin. He was pale, with smallish lips. Good to know. “As for cutting the cake, I’ve heard dental floss can cut stuff, so webbing should be the same.” He gathered some of his webbing in his hands, pulling it taunt before using it to cut the cake in half. “We’ll just eat with our hands like cavemen.”

“Okay.” Adrien laughed. As nice as it was, he couldn’t help but wish that Ladybug was there with them. It felt wrong to be Chat Noir, sitting up on the Eiffel Tower without her.

“So what happened with Ladybug?” Spidey was really going at the cake, shovelling fistfuls into his mouth. Adrien ate with less gusto, simply popping bites into his mouth one at a time. It was delicious, even more so because it was _his_ birthday cake.

“The usual thing. Her telling me she wanted to go to a dance at her school with some guy, naturally I told her I hoped it went well, we collectively brought up the fact that I’m in love with her, she told me I had to stop chasing after her and to go after someone else.”

“That’s rough. Dude, I’m so sorry.” Spidey’s eyes shrunk slightly. His suit’s expressions were still slightly unnerving to Adrien, but he’d seen the sympathy one often enough to recognize it.

“I had it coming, you know? Sometimes I think I’m winning her over, bit by bit, but in the end this other guy just keeps cropping up and I don’t know what he has that I don’t, but he must be some hell of a guy.”

“Can I be honest?” Spiderman licked frosting off his suit’s gloves. “You gotta stop comparing yourself to the other dude. You don’t even know who he is. Most likely Ladybug is focusing on a civilian relationship because that’s what it is. A civilian relationship. Dating as a superhero is hard. I’ve seen enough of the Avengers struggle because of it. And when you’re both superheroes? Double hard. She doesn’t know who you are, man. And while you may think you know the girl behind the mask, you really don’t. You don’t know who she is when she goes home at night and she knows that.”

“I’ve offered to tell her my identity! She just doesn’t want to know me.” Adrien pouted.

“It’s definitely not that. Telling someone your identity is risky business, it requires a lot of trust. I’m not saying she doesn’t trust you, it’s just she doesn’t know if she can trust you out of the suit too. And I don’t think there’s really anything you can do about that. One day she’ll decide she’s ready for you to know, or it’ll get found out on accident. Everyone who knows who I am found out on accident. While I wouldn’t recommend it, it is kind of a relief once someone knows who you are. Anyways, once she finds out it’s you, she’ll be fine. After the initial shock. But don’t worry. It’ll work out in the end.” Spiderman grinned as though he hadn’t just contradicted himself about two times and avoided making any actual points.

“Uh, okay.”

“But I’ve got the perfect solution to strengthening our bond on the ground,” Spiderman said, pulling a bag from the shadows that Adrien hadn’t even noticed. “I got us all phones. Actually, I made them. In London. Anyways, that’s not the point. I’ll give one to you, one to Ladybug, and I’ll keep one. It’ll be a work phone, technically, that way we can all contact each other at any point in time. There’s literally no way it could go wrong at all.” He said the last sentence sarcastically, but didn’t elaborate as he handed Adrien the sleek phone.

“So this has the other two phone contacts in it?”

“Yep. I’ll take Ladybug hers tonight. I’d recommend getting an identical case but keeping different passcodes between your phones. That helps prevent people from getting suspicious that you’ve got two phones, but it prevents you from getting them confused.”

“How are you getting Ladybug hers?”

“I know where she lives. Now take the rest of the cake and get home, Chat. You’ve got school tomorrow.”

“Just in case you weren’t aware, I think it’s totally unfair that you know both our identities and we don’t know yours.”

“Duh,” Spiderman grinned. “That’s like the whole point. Karen, mask on.” His mask closed back up over his mouth as he grabbed his bag, slinging it over his back and leaping off into the night. “Happy birthday!” He called as he disappeared.

“How on earth am I supposed to get this home?” Adrien looked down at the thoroughly destroyed chocolate cake. Maybe if he detransformed and just let Plagg eat it all...?

* * *

Marinette was sitting at home, pretending to read a fashion magazine but really just drooling over Adrien when there was a knock on her skylight.

Chat Noir again? She didn’t know how much more he could guilt trip her. There was no way he knew that Marinette was Ladybug, but the fact that he’d come straight to her after she’d rejected him as Ladybug the night before still didn’t sit right with her. She’d been so sure when she’d told him he needed to find someone else, someone who could love him back. But when she’d seen the sorry-looking kitty sitting on her lounge all wrapped up in one of her blanket hoodies, she’d felt her heart pang so hard it was almost painful. She’d done that to him. She’d broken his heart.

But they couldn’t be together, not really. Even if Adrien wasn’t in the picture, they’d never be able to be a happy couple as superheroes. She just couldn’t date a boy whose name she didn’t even know.

“Come in!” Oh she really didn’t want to deal with this tonight. Mentally preparing herself and plastering the biggest grin across her face that she could manage, Marinette climbed down from her loft bed to see why Chat had chosen to disturb her this night.

Only it wasn’t Chat. It was Spiderman who lowered himself into her room with a web. “Hey Ladybug.”

“You know my identity.” Marinette breathed, frozen in place. It hadn’t even occurred to her to try and deny it. Spiderman definitely knew. “How’d you do that? And don’t say it’s from an iris scanner, since Chat figures you were lying about that. I thought it was just an accident that you knew his identity, but both of ours?”

“Marinette, you look the exact same in costume as out of it. I’m surprised more people don’t know. But I’ve come with something important. I just talked to Chat.”

“How’s he doing?” Marinette asked quietly, against her better judgement. Spiderman’s eye shape softened as he placed his black bag on the ground.

“He’s okay. We talked about it. I understand why you did what you did, but it was tough for him to hear.”

“I needed to say it though. He’s in love with who I am as Ladybug, you know we’re not the same.”

“You may not be the same right now, but I have no doubt that one day you will be.” Spiderman said cryptically, kneeling to open the bag. “I came to give you this, not really to hear drama. I mean, I’d love to hear all about it, but I didn’t sleep last night and it’s late and I’d really like to get back home and to bed. Here you go.”

He handed her a phone. Marinette stared at him. “Uh, thank you?”

“It’s not just a gift, it’s for you to use to contact me and Chat Noir. We’ve both got phones, and this way we can keep in touch even when we’re not in costume. I know I don’t really have to tell you this, but don’t make it obvious that you’ve got two phones. Same case, different password sort of deal. This way we can have a little group chat and even private messages, since I think there’s some stuff you and Chat need to work out before we get back to fighting together.”

“Thanks, Spidey,” she said, and she meant it. She did want to get to know Chat, but they didn’t really have much time to do it when they were fighting akumas or doing patrol.

“I’d be lying if I said this was simply for convenience,” Spidey said, readying his webshooters. “I don’t want you and Chat to lose the partnership you’ve got going, and I can tell that not knowing anything about him is bugging you a bit. Use this as a jumping off point.”

“Jumping off point? Yeah, I can do that.”

“I know you can. See you later, Mari.” And with that he was gone, back off into the night, shutting the skylight behind him.

Marinette returned to her bed, starting up the phone. Spiderman had already loaded the other two phone’s contacts, distinguished by two simple emojis. For himself, he’d done a simple spider emoji. For Chat Noir, he’d put a heart-eyed cat. Marinette resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she crafted a new message.

[ Hey are we good? ]

Precisely sixty seconds passed before Chat’s response appeared on the screen.

**[ why wouldn’t we be good ]**

Marinette barely refrained from grinding her teeth together as she typed a response, not bothering to wait a dignified amount of time before responding.

[ I’m not stupid Chat, I can tell you’re upset ]

[ I never should have said anything and I’m sorry ]

[ Keep the personal life personal, you know ]

 **[ you don’t have to apologize Ladybug ]** Marinette frowned at his lack of ‘My Lady’. Seeing him address her as Ladybug seemed so formal, so out of place.

[ What can I do to make it better? ]

**[ confess your undying love for me ]**

**[ that was a joke ]**

**[ I was kidding ]**

**[ don’t do that unless it’s for real ]**

[ Spiderman said this was a way for us to get closer ] Marinette did her best to gently coax him back on track, remind him why she was there.

[ I think he’s worried that us being on the outs will affect how we fight ]

**[ seems like just another way you’ll stay on my mind ]**

[ Well, by extension it seems like I’m going to be thinking about you more often too ]

 **[ just as I’d hoped ;) ]** Chat’s winking face emoticon filled her with relief. Maybe he was flirting his emotions away, but it was a bit of his normal self at least.

[ But for real are we good ]

**[ I’m not mad at you if that’s what you’re wondering ]**

**[ I could never feel anything less than love towards you ]**

**[ I’m just dealing with some other stuff too ]** That was the text that overwhelmed Marinette with guilt. Of course Chat had things going on in his personal life. He’d only ever shared bits and pieces, but she could tell his home life wasn’t necessarily a good one. He really hadn’t needed her added rejection on top of it. Being Ladybug was a welcome distraction to Marinette any day, a chance to get away from normal life’s woes, and she knew Chat felt the same way. He really didn’t need all the added drama.

[ Sorry minou sometimes I forget you’re not Chat Noir all the time ]

[ Let me know if you ever need to talk ]

[ Now go to sleep I know for a fact you have school tomorrow ]

**[ your wish is my command ]**

Marinette sighed, reading his last message over. Maybe, just maybe if Adrien Agreste hadn’t existed she would’ve fallen for Chat instead. But then again, that was a very small maybe. Her flirtatious counterpart seemed to be a magnet for trouble and Marinette liked to avoid that sort of thing. Adrien was sweet, kind, and divinely perfect. No mortal being could possibly compare to him.

And yet, when she went to sleep that night, it was not Adrien she dreamt of, but her masked partner.

She was late to school again. It was extra embarrassing every time she was late, as her house was not even a five minute walk away. Yet somehow she missed her morning alarm with an alarming regularity. Their teacher was writing the day’s lesson plan on the board as she snuck in, tip-toeing to her seat. But naturally, one glance at Adrien and a polite smile from him and she was tripping forwards, arms windmilling. She cringed, bracing for impact, but it didn’t come.

Peter, the American exchange student, had thrust out a hand, causing Marinette to fall onto his arm, instead of the floor. _Dang, he’s strong,_ Marinette thought, whispering her quiet thanks as she steadied herself once more and took her seat. He simply gave her a friendly smile, turning back to his work. Marinette hadn’t really spoken with him much, but he’d bought her tickets for a concert so she could attend with Adrien, so really she should have been worshipping the ground he walked on by this point. He seemed like a nice boy, though she’d seen his wild streak on that one particular outing, where he and Adrien had…

 _NO. Thoughts. Bad. Stop._ Marinette stopped her mind before it could go there, but it was too late. She was blushing at the mere thought of Adrien’s…special dance moves.

“You okay, girl?” Alya nudged her with a knowing glance.

Marinette managed a shaky laugh. “What? Yeah, I’m fine.”

“We’ll be splitting into randomly selected groups,” Mme. Bustier announced, lifting her tablet. “First group: Alya, Nino, Alix. Group two: Marinette, Peter, Adrien. Group three…” Marinette couldn’t even hear the rest of her sentence as she turned to Alya, eyes wide.

“I’m in a group with Adrien!”

“I know, the rest of us can hear her too.”

“This is perfect! I finally have the perfect opportunity to ask him to the fall dance!” The fall dance had been the only thing on Marinette’s mind since it had been announced. This time she was really going to work up the nerve to ask Adrien to go with her. Nothing could go wrong.

 _I mean, he could reject you and refuse to speak to you ever again,_ her brain nagged as she followed Peter and Adrien out of the classroom, looking for the perfect spot to conduct their research.

“Shut up!” She yelled, clamping her hands over her ears. Both Peter and Adrien turned to her in surprise.

“Okayyyyyy I guess we won’t be studying in the courtyard. Point taken,” Peter said. “What about outside? The fresh air always gets my mind…what’s the word? Thinking? That’s not it but we’ll go with that.”

“Haha sorry, I didn’t mean you shut up, I just meant, I was just…outside sounds great!” Marinette hastily moved in front of him, leading the way out, not missing the questioning expression the two boys exchanged.

“Okay,” Adrien settled into the grass outside, breathing in the crisp air. Marinette noticed with no small amount of pride that he was wearing her jacket again, a simple black tee underneath. “This is nice.”

“What are we supposed to be doing in these groups?” Marinette asked. She’d been late, then distracted, and had completely missed what the objective.

“No idea,” Peter said, tapping his stylus against his chin. “I was too busy hacking her randomization app and rigging the groups to translate what she was saying.”

“Peter you rigged the groups?” Adrien looked at him, then burst out laughing. “You’re a genius, you know that?”

“I’m not just a pretty face,” Peter said sarcastically, tapping something into his tablet which was suddenly looking a lot less innocent than Marinette had previously pegged it to be. “What can I say? Your schooling is a lot easier than I’m used to, I have to do something to keep me interested.”

“What we’re supposed to be doing is a project on someone we all admire,” Adrien said. “We all have to agree on the person, so let’s get brainstorming.”

“Let’s make a list of people we all admire, then. That seems like a good place to start.” Peter drew up a list on his tablet, dividing it into three columns, writing the first letter of each of their names at the top. “Marinette, you’re the first person in our MAP group, who do you admire?”

_Okay, time to turn on the charm, Mari. Chat Noir flirts with you all the time, you just have to flirt with Adrien. It’s simple. Just channel Chat._

“I admire Adrien!” She shouted, far louder than she’d intended. Adrien blinked but Peter looked unfazed.

“Cool, me too. Reasons why?”

“Uh, he’s really nice, and selfless too, he’s always doing things to make others happy and-”

“Ah yes, that’s the ‘human doormat’ part of me,” Adrien laughed. “I’m a bit of a pushover, aren’t I?”

“That’s an understatement,” Peter muttered, writing ‘human doormat’ underneath Adrien’s name in Marinette’s column. “Anything else?”

“What would you write?” Marinette’s moment had sort of been ruined. Why was it as soon as she was talking about Adrien _in front of Adrien_ that her mind forgot every single good thing he’d ever done? Whenever she was talking with Alya, she could go on for hours. And sometimes she did. But now the best she could come up with was ‘nice’?

“Adrien is caring, he’s smart, he’s funny, but I don’t admire him for any of those reasons,” Peter said.

“You don’t?” Marinette said in unison with Adrien.

“No, I admire Adrien because I can talk to him about anything. He’s trustworthy, he’s loyal, and he puts aside his own happiness to put others first. He would never make anyone do something they don’t want to do, and he’d stand up for anyone who was being pushed around by someone else. And I think he’s one of the most under-appreciated people of the century. Anyways, that’s not all going to fit on here, so I’ll just write ‘flawed’.”

“Flawed?” Adrien didn’t seem to compute.

“Yeah man, you’re humble, and a lot of people would probably label you as perfect, but I know you’re more than that. You care too much, you put others first at the expense of your own mental health. You are a pushover, you’re right about that, but all your flaws are somehow what makes you such a great person to be around.”

Marinette was just staring at Peter slack-jawed. Those were some of the nicest sentiments she’d ever heard, and they weren’t even about her. And Adrien didn’t seem to know how to react either.

“Anyways, anyone else you admire, Marinette?” Peter asked innocuously.

“There’s lots, none of who I can think of right now, because how on earth did you…?”

“Putting words to feelings helps prevent you from being controlled by them,” Peter said simply. “I’d never hide how I feel about someone, nor how I feel in general. At least, not to myself. Like I could never be jealous of Adrien, because I know what makes him such a good person and I also know why he and I are different. See?”

Was that how he’d been able to resist the akuma? Something about Peter just seemed more mature than the rest of her classmates, and Marinette could see exactly why he and Adrien got along so well. They had the perfect balance of similarities and differences.

“Okay, Adrien, who do you admire?” Marinette was prepared to hear Adrien bring up his dad or someone equally as powerful and intimidating in response to Peter’s question, but to her surprise, he simply grinned at Peter.

“You know who.”

“I do indeed know who,” Peter said, folding his arms across his chest. “Which is why I’m going to need some explanation.”

 _Who are they talking about?_ Neither of their faces were giving away anything, Peter’s face impassive and blank and Adrien’s grin hadn’t budged an inch.

“Anyone can see why I admire her,” Adrien said.

“Do better; I just sung your praises. It’s your turn.”

So it was a her? Marinette could feel her heart shrivel up and die in her chest. She tried telling herself that it wasn’t necessarily a romantic interest of Adrien’s, but the gleam in his eye suggested otherwise.

“Fine.” Adrien relented. “I admire her because she’s fearless. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met, and she’s always willing to help others. And not just because it’s her job or responsibility. She just genuinely cares and that’s not something you see every day. I’d trust her with my life, I’d trust her with anything.”

“Dang, Ladybug is one lucky chick, huh Marinette?” Peter said, laughing at the dreamy expression on Adrien’s face.

“L-Ladybug?” Marinette stammered, blushing again.

“That’s all he ever talks about, isn’t it? And if anyone cares, I would’ve said Tony Stark for the person I admire most.”

“Tony Stark?” He’d lost her.

“I get it, he’s had a few rocky patches, but his heart is in the right place. I mean, he took an impoverished kid who was literally dumpster diving for spare computer parts, gave him all the tech he could imagine, introduced him to all the right people, gave him a platform, and wound up saving that kid’s life. And I would know, that kid was me. And I’ll always admire him for taking a chance on me, giving me hope.”

“That’s really sweet, Peter,” Marinette whispered, gently patting his arm. “Why don’t we use Tony for our project? I’m sure Mme. Bustier would love to hear your personal experience.”

“I think Tony Stark is pretty cool too,” Adrien supplied. “Let’s do it.” And for the next hour they brainstormed, piecing together the bits of the project they would need to complete.

“Adrien and I can always work on it at home,” Peter said, reminding Marinette that he actually _lived_ at the Agreste mansion with Adrien. That gave her an idea.

At the end of the day, she handed Peter an envelope. “Can you give this to Adrien later?”

“Yeah, sure,” he accepted it, sliding it into his pocket. “Although, I’m not really sure I’m the person you should be giving this to. I lose stuff a lot. I mean a lot a lot. Last year, I lost like twenty backpacks total.”

“Just, uh, do your best?” Marinette suggested, turning away before he could see how flustered she was.

“I’ll give it to him as soon as possible. I think he has a photo shoot today, though? So it might be a bit. I just know I’m not going back to the mansion, so I’ll be hanging out at some coffee shop or something until he’s done.”

“I’d invite you to come over, but I actually have something really important to do,” Marinette said. “Thank you so much!” She ran past him before he could understand, headed off to do something she’d been putting off. Talking to Master Fu. Specifically about Peter’s unusual ability to resist akuma attacks.

“I had a feeling I’d be seeing you sometime soon,” Master Fu welcomed her. His kwami, Wayzz, was floating in the air behind him and Marinette opened her purse so Tikki could fly out and join her friend.

“There’s a kid in my class who can resist akumas,” Marinette blurted out, wasting no time.

“Peter Parker?”

“How did you know?”

Master Fu smiled at her. “I’ve been watching Peter for quite some time now. There’s something special about him, surely you’ve seen it too. Although this is news, it’s not necessarily surprising.”

“It’s not?” Marinette felt foolish for coming to him. Maybe it wasn’t a big deal? “I mean, I’ve never been akumatized.”

“But the Papillon has never tried. From what I assume, an akuma physically touched Peter and he fought it off, no?” Master Fu said down on his mat, gesturing for Marinette to join him.

“It was really weird. The akuma entered him, and then we could hear him talking to the Papillon but I couldn’t understand him, because it was in English, and then the akuma flew out and it just…dissolved.”

“He didn’t just free the evil, he completely destroyed it,” Master Fu said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “Can I have you test a theory for me?”

“Of course,” she agreed readily.

“If I’m wrong, it could have disastrous results. But we’ll be careful.” His words did nothing to assure her. He stood up suddenly, pressing a button on the wall. All the lights turned off and black casing slid down from the roof, covering up the windows and doors in the room, throwing them into pitch black. “You’ll need to stand.”

Marinette followed his instructions, getting off the mat and allowing him to slide it back, revealing a trapdoor. “What’s this?”

“Something I never should have had,” Master Fu said, pulling a key from a chain around his neck and fitting it into the lock on the trapdoor. “This is your last chance to back out, for you can’t unlearn what I’m about to tell you.”

“I’m in,” Marinette said, as if there was any doubt. No matter how dangerous it could be, anything to do with the miraculous and she was on board.

“Then follow me.” He lifted the door with no small amount of difficulty. A set worn stone steps lead down below the building, darkness swallowing the bottom. Leading the way, Master Fu gripped onto the wall as the stone staircase lead down down down, further beneath the city than Marinette had ever been. She noticed with an anxious twang that their kwamis had not followed them.

“What’s down here?” She whispered, feeling the need to be quiet under their blanket of secrecy.

“Power beyond anything you could ever imagine,” Master Fu said, suddenly stopping. “Before I show you what lies down here, I need you to understand that it is not meant for me or you. In a perfect life, I never would have found it, never would have been tempted, but I was weak. I hope you are at least stronger than I.”

“Not for me, got it,” Marinette repeated, glad when Master Fu began moving again. Being down there was starting to creep her out, and the way he was acting wasn’t helping. The air had grown damp and cold by the time they reached the last step, landing on a stone floor in a stone room. It was empty except for a pedestal made, predictably, of stone.

And on the pedestal was a single miraculous box.

Master Fu walked up to it, mumbling some sort of spell before reaching out and taking the box into his hands. “Put it straight into your purse and don’t open it until the time comes.”

Marinette did as he said, then took a deep breath. “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

“This is the phoenix miraculous,” Master Fu explained, eyes darting left and right like he expected someone to jump out from the shadows and snatch him up at any moment. His demeanour did nothing to calm Marinette’s nerves.

“The phoenix miraculous? I didn’t know we even had one of those. Why isn’t it in the Miracle Box?”

“It must be kept separate from the other kwamis. I don’t entirely know where to start with this explanation, so I guess I’ll start from the beginning. Phoenix were magical, immortal birds possessing many powers, as I’m sure you are well aware. Given their powers by the sun god. This phoenix miraculous is no different. In fact, it was the first of the kwamis to be given a corporeal body. In that way I suppose you could consider it the oldest.

“While all the kwamis are divine beings, with Tikki and Plagg being the two most powerful, the phoenix miraculous works a bit differently than that. When it was given a body, its power was unrestrained and ultimately too powerful for any human to wield. Those who tried, died. And so a gem was inset in its forehead to siphon the power so that humanity could use it. If it were without that gem once again, the phoenix would almost undoubtedly be considered the most powerful. In fact, it was this miraculous’s power that broke the peacock miraculous.”

“The peacock miraculous is broken?” Marinette hadn’t heard that yet.

“Yes, but that is beside the point. One of the first rules of being a guardian is that you should never go looking for the phoenix miraculous, let alone attempt to wield it. Only ten people per generation are born with the ability to wield this miraculous, and everyone else who tries it dies. To use the phoenix’s power, one must be of both extreme physical and moral strength.”

“Moral strength? Why?” Marinette had kind of assumed that all superheroes had to have some sort of moral strength. After all, they did have to want to save people, right?

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There has never been a wielder of the phoenix miraculous who hasn’t turned bad. They all think they can rule the world, and that’s when the power consumes them. And most of them don’t even master the phoenix song.”

“The phoenix song?”

“It’s the equivalent of your lucky charm or Chat Noir’s cataclysm. The phoenix song, however, offers a selection of abilities to those who can master it. When one cannot use it, all it offers is super strength, rapid healing, and fire immunity. But once the phoenix song is sung, the user chooses from any of a phoenix’s traditional powers. Incineration, invulnerability, teleportation, shape-shifting, pyro-spysiology, or healing tears to name a few. Once the song is sung, their transformation is limited just as yours is, and they can only choose one power to possess per transformation.” 

“That sounds like a lot of power,” Marinette mumbled, feeling almost woozy. The amount of power the miraculous, now sitting harmlessly in her purse, possessed was unfathomable. “What am I to do with it?”

“Peter Parker must be the one to wield it. Without it, I don’t know if you’ll be able to stop the Papillon.”

“But if you’re wrong, and he can’t handle it, he’ll die,” she whispered, the gravity suddenly crashing down around her. “And I can’t let Peter die. I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” She reached for her purse.

“Marinette, you promised.”

“That was before I knew the risks of what I was being asked to do!” She didn’t mean to shout, and instantly felt ashamed, clapping a hand over her mouth. A silence hung in the air, and she knew she had to be the one to break it. “And even if it does work, you said he would turn bad.”

“I never said _he_ would turn bad, I just said everyone else has turned bad. Peter is different. Peter can fight off an akuma, and he knows the risks that superheroes take. I was hoping to hold off fighting the Papillon until you and Chat Noir were adults with fully developed powers, but we simply do not have the luxury of time! We _need_ the phoenix miraculous, and he is the only one I’ve ever met who could be a match. So when the time comes, and you’ll know when, your lucky charm will point to it, you must find Peter Parker and give him the powers of the phoenix and trust that he will do the right thing. You will explain to him the risks, and as a test of trust, have him return the miraculous at the end of the mission. Then you will return it to me and then I will devise a more permanent solution. Because it’s not meant to be kept here, it’s not meant to be in the hands of a guardian. I locked it down here because it whispers to you in the day and night, trying to convince you to put it on, to taste that power for yourself.”

“You have so much faith that Peter will accept,” Marinette said, her heart beating in her chest. The thought of Peter, sweet Peter, dying or becoming corrupt was threatening to make her sick.

“I know Peter, both who he is and who he pretends to be, and I know that he can do it. He may be the only one I can trust to make the right decision during the final battle.”

“The final battle?”

“It may be coming sooner than I wanted, but we cannot hold it off forever. I know that I cannot trust myself to do what must be done, but Peter can, and he can live with the consequences. So now I trust you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, to keep the phoenix miraculous safe before it can be with its rightful owner.”

“I can’t say I understand, Master, but I do know I won’t let you down.” And she wouldn’t. She hadn’t so far and she didn’t intend on this being the first time. If Master Fu had this much faith in Peter, then she had no choice but to trust him too.

“I know you won’t. Now run along and enjoy your weekend.”

“My weekend?” Oh right. It was Friday. And now Marinette had to wait all weekend to get a reply from Adrien. That was if Peter even managed to get him her note asking him to go to the dance with her. Because if she knew Adrien, he would never reply to her invitation with something as impersonal as a phone call or a text; no, he would wait until he saw her at school and then he’d give his answer to her face. And the thought terrified her. Plus, it didn’t help that she was starting to feel a little bit more than just pity towards Chat Noir. But she’d never admit that to herself.

Her mind only had space to be occupied by two things right now; Adrien and the tiny little red and black box that sat in the bottom of her purse with the power to not only kill whoever used it but also to probably destroy the world.

And with that knowledge, Marinette wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to ‘enjoy’ her weekend. Not when Master Fu had essentially placed Peter Parker’s life in her hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to give Peter the tiger miraculous at first, but then I realized we still don’t know its powers and I didn’t really want to do anything that was going to be disproved by canon later, so I decided to invent my own! I did a lot of research on phoenixes and how they’ve been represented throughout history to properly design the powers and suit (there was a lot about death, but I didn’t really think it would fit Peter’s happy-go-lucky attitude) which we’ll see more of in the coming chapters! I’ve also got a full concept art for the suit, miraculous, and kwami so I’ll post that when we finally get to see Peter transform for the first time! I also had to think of a reasonable excuse for the phoenix miraculous to have never been mentioned / stored in the miracle box so naturally we had to make it ~mysterious~. Tikki and Plagg still are the most powerful kwamis, as the show has hinted we haven’t seen the full extent of their abilities and I’m sure there’s lots more to it than what Chat Noir/Ladybug are capable of now, but I just had Master Fu explain everything the phoenix miraculous could do just to get it out of the way so Peter can use it later and it doesn’t just seem like I’m pulling it out of nowhere. Anyways, hope y’all enjoyed!
> 
> And you can see my concept art for Adrien’s brand new pyjamas here: https://pin.it/7dvQ8GK


	5. Sain et Sauf avec Vous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much just 25% plot, 25% angst, 25% Adrien being clueless and 25% Peter thinking everyone is stupid. 100% way longer of a chapter than I intended, so I had to split it up, so the next bit should be coming within the next few days!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY finished the ‘cover art’ for this story, but I don’t know how to post it within the fic so you can find it here: https://pin.it/3baqwWy Plus you can get a sneak peak of the phoenix kwami :)

Peter had just hung up his phone conversation with Ned by the time he’d gotten to the front of the coffee line. His very English phone conversation had left him entirely unprepared for the French cashier that asked him what he wanted in a bored tone that suggested her day had been less than pleasant. And here was Peter to make it worse as everything he’d ever known about French went more or less out the window.

“Uh, est-ce que je peux aller? No, avoir? Voudrais?” _Where was Adrien when he needed him?_ “Séance du photo,” Peter stumbled, brain doing cartwheels as the cashier stared at him blankly. “Merde.” That was one word he never forgot, no matter what. “Croissant, s’il vous plait.”

He hadn’t even wanted a croissant. He wanted coffee. Oh well. It was his own incompetence that found him sitting there, eating the punishment croissant that wasn’t nearly as good as Marinette’s parents’.

Those moments of solitude were welcomed by Peter. He was a social person, but even he needed moments to recharge. And when he wasn’t hanging out with Adrien, he was usually hanging out with Chat Noir, and so it was the same amount of socialization either way. So as he sat there, headphones in, tapping his foot along to songs reminiscent of the 2010’s, it was really the height of luxury. Not to mention that he was in Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Marinette’s letter was burning a hole in his pocket. He wasn’t going to read it, just pull it out and look at it to fully get the vibes of a tortured lover in a Parisian café, you know, as one does. Adrien’s name was scrawled in cursive across the front of the envelope and Peter selected a sadder song, pretending he was the protagonist in some low-budget romance film, staring out the window. It was just starting to rain. Perfect. All the more ambience.

He didn’t even realize he was being spoken to until someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was the cashier from before. Hastily, Peter pulled his earphones out, looking up at her.

“Drugs?” She asked. Peter blinked.

“Uh, no thank you.”

“No, are you on drugs?”

“Uh, no?”

“Then stop acting like it.” And she walked away, leaving Peter very confused. He decided that was enough alone time for one week, possibly forever, and he was never interacting with anyone ever again unless Adrien was there. And in his embarrassment, he only had the simple yet powerful urge to leave and never come back. Maybe he could become a hermit, in the mountains, living alone and surviving off of rats and pine cones. Although it was a lovely thought, he settled with going to find Adrien, even if it meant walking in the rain.

Peter hadn’t packed an umbrella for Paris because he had mistakenly only categorized the year by ‘hoodie weather’ and ‘t-shirt weather’ and he really hadn’t accounted for rainfall at all. So he let his hoodie get soaked through as he trudged to meet Adrien at his photo shoot. Surprise surprise, the photographer was wailing in frustration as Adrien’s glam team held an umbrella above his head.

“I simply cannot shoot in the rain! Blond hair in the rain! Not the vibe we want! The energy is off now, we will have to postpone.”

“A rain-check, quite literally,” Adrien laughed as Peter approached. No one seemed to find his quip funny. “Oh, hey Peter. Have fun at the café?”

“No,” Peter said. He was very much dripping wet as the heavens opened up above them. “A lady insinuated that I was on drugs. It wasn’t in my top ten experiences and that being said I’m never going anywhere without you again.”

“You look like a wet cat, did you not pack an umbrella?”

“Movies make it seem like Paris is always sunny unless someone is leaving on an airplane and the other is running to profess their love. Of course then they kiss in the rain and it’s a cinematic masterpiece, but that’s the only time it rains.” Peter waved his hand as his explanation tumbled out.

“By that logic, are we about to kiss right now?” Adrien teased, and Peter rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t want to mess up your lip gloss.”

“Of course not.” Adrien stepped out from under his umbrella, much to the disbelief and annoyance of the glam team. “I take it the photoshoot’s over?”

Adrien’s bodyguard was waiting on site to take them home, not looking too happy about two wet kids sitting on the custom leather seats, but he made no comment. Peter was beginning to think he never spoke.

“Oh, I have something I’m supposed to give you!” Peter reached into his pocket, pulling out the soaked envelope, placing the wet paper in Adrien’s hands.

“Peter, what is this.” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement of mild disgust.

“It’s a letter? From Marinette?”

“I literally don’t think this is readable,” Adrien held it up, inspecting it.

“Give it an hour on a vent, it’ll be good as new,” Peter said, bouncing in his seat, just wanting to be back at the house so he could change. His wet clothes were beginning to itch. “In other news, are you going to the dance?”

“Dance? What dance?” Adrien looked pointedly at his bodyguard, then back at Peter, who got the message.

“Dance? Noooooo I meant are you going to the dunce, it’s like this game show, where famous supermodels do…math problems,” Peter invented wildly. “Yeah, if that sounds real, are you going to it?”

“No,” Adrien said simply. But as soon as they were back in Peter’s room, Adrien grabbed his shoulders.

“We are going to that dance if it kills us, but I’ve got a plan. My dad won’t be here for three days, conveniently lining up with the dance. Nathalie is going with him on the business trip, so it’s you, me, the Gorilla.”

“Is that what we’re calling him now?”

“Shh. Anyways, we’re going to have Nino and maybe some others sleep over. It’ll be really fun, I promise.”

Peter looked at him skeptically as he peeled his hoodie off, grabbing a fresh sweater. “I can see that going wrong so fast.”

“It’ll be fine,” Adrien said confidently.

“Have you ever had a sleepover before? Cousins and present company excluded,” Peter asked, placing Marinette’s letter overtop the nearest vent.

“Uh, no,” Adrien admitted. “Not even with Felix.”

“Alright, something tells me you’re going to need serious help planning this and pulling it off,” Peter said. “So, the dance is Friday night. Your dad is gone which days?”

“Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” Adrien recited. “I already made a schedule.”

“A schedule,” Peter deadpanned.

“Yeah, lemme go get changed, I’ll wash my face, and then I’ll show you!” Adrien was like a kid at Christmas as he tore out of the room, leaving Peter to finish stripping out of his wet clothes. Peter didn’t need his spidey senses to tell him the said sleepover wasn’t going to go well, but he wasn’t about to deny Adrien his one chance at having his friends over.

“Okay!” Adrien had returned, a laminated schedule in hand. “So here we go. My dad leaves at precisely nine-thirty in the morning, which gives us plenty of time to get set up. There’s no school that day, so we can just spend the whole day getting ourselves ready as well as the place. Can I place you in charge of like, food?”

“Yeah, sure,” Peter said. “We should make a group chat for invites. Who else other than Nino are we thinking?”

“Alya, obviously, Marinette too, I guess. That’s good, right? Nothing too big.”

“We’re inviting the girls too?” Peter looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, why, is there something wrong with that?”

“No, no, invite the girls,” Peter said, typing their contacts into his phone, creating a group chat.

“I’ll set up sleeping arrangements, and you can sleep in my room, obviously, since everyone sleeps in one room at sleepovers.” Adrien squinted at his schedule. “Dance starts at six, so we’ll be ten minutes late.”

“Ten minutes?”

“To build anticipation. It’s some thing my parents used to say when we would actually leave the house. Anyhow, since you’re on food, I guess I’ll figure out entertainment. So we’ll come back here at nine, and that gives us lots of time to do whatever before we sleep.”

“You don’t actually sleep at a sleepover,” Peter pointed out. “Well, usually you go to bed at like four am. That’s just how it works.”

“Oh, okay,” Adrien made a note of this on his beloved schedule with a whiteboard marker. “So they don’t need beds?”

“They need something to sleep on, yeah, but they’ll bring them,” Peter said. “Okay, I just sent out a group text with the invites and asking them to let me know if they’ve got allergies. Should be good to go.”

“You’re the best,” Adrien grinned at him. “This is going to be so much fun!”

“Let’s see how your letter is doing,” Peter commented, reaching for the envelope. It was mostly dry now. “Why’d she use ink? Now it’s all smudged.”

Adrien unfolded the letter, trying to make sense of the smeared writing. After a few minutes, he gave up, handing it to Peter. “I can’t read it.”

“Neither can I. Maybe just call her and ask what it said?”

“That’s genius! Then I can give her my reply in person! Well not in person, but you know what I mean,” he said, pulling his phone out and FaceTiming her. Marinette picked up on the first ring, her face filling the screen and then suddenly the picture went tumbling, along with a little shriek.

“S-sorry,” she came back into focus. “I dropped my phone.”

“Hey Marinette!” Adrien said cheerfully. “I’m here with Peter!” He turned his phone so Marinette could see Peter, who was feeling like he’d rather not be there for the conversation.

“I gave him your letter, and I didn’t lose it,” Peter started his apology. “But I’m also kind of an idiot and it was raining and I had it in my pocket and not my bag and it got really wet and we can’t read it-”

“-so we were wondering what it said!” Adrien finished. Marinette on the other end turned bright red. _Like a tomato,_ Peter mused.

“Uh…” Poor Marinette was obviously floundering. “I don’t, I don’t remember! Haha!”

“How can you not remember?” Peter asked. “You wrote it down, didn’t you?”

“Oh! Right! I was just asking if you were going to the dance! But Peter’s text answered that, when he invited us all over for a, you know, sleepover! Which I’m really excited about, by the way!”

Peter’s mind switched gears as he remembered that food (aka the thing that could make or break the sleepover) was his problem. “Hey do your parents deliver like, food?”

“They can’t deliver it if I’m there!” Marinette shrieked, then dropped her voice to a whisper. “I already told them I was sleeping over at Alya’s. They’d kill me if they knew I was going to a _boy’s_ house.”

“Even if I’m said boy?” Adrien asked, turning the camera back to himself. Whatever beat Marinette had going for her was all lost now as she saw his face again, blushing harder than before.

“ _Especially_ if you’re said boy!” Marinette hissed. “I have to go, I think Alya’s calling me.”

“That’s weird,” Peter said, his own phone buzzing. “Cuz Alya is currently calling _me_. Unless she’s got two phones…?”

“You really wrote me a whole letter just to ask if I was going to the dance?” Adrien asked Marinette, a confused expression on his face. “You could’ve just asked me that in person or over text. I don’t bite.” He gave her a grin that was almost Chat Noir-esque, and Peter could see Marinette gulp on the other end.

“My wifi’s down! Sorry!” Marinette squeaked, ending the call.

“Sorry Adri, I gotta take this call from one half of your father,” Peter said, answering the phone. “Agreste parental unit here, how may I be of assistance?”

“Oh my god Peter, you gave me a heart attack, I thought I’d accidentally called Gabriel Agreste,” Alya said after a moment of silence. “If it weren’t for the bad accent, I’d have hung up right then and there.”

“Sorry, not all of us are born being able to make an ‘r’ sound like a weird ass purr,” Peter sassed, looking pointedly between Adrien and the door. Adrien didn’t seem to get the hint, just shrugging at him. “Adrien I’m trying to plan something with Alya. Scheming, if you will. I’ll need you to leave the room for a few minutes, okay?”

Adrien rolled his eyes, exiting the room with an overly dramatic sigh. “Are we alone?” Alya asked on the other end.

“Yeah, I’m assuming you’re calling about your little scheme to get Adrien and Marinette together.”

“You know about it?”

“Honey I’ve been continuing that scheme right here at home with our son,” Peter flopped down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. “Trust me I want nothing more than for Adrien to get a girl so he can stop pining over-” He stopped himself before he could reveal too much information. Alya knew Adrien was interested in Ladybug, but Peter wasn’t about to expose just how _interested_ he was. “-stop hanging around here doing nothing all the time! That’s what I was going to say, sorry, I’m still struggling with the whole bilingual thing,” he lied quickly.

“So you think they would be a cute couple?” Alya sounded excited.

“Sure,” Peter waved his hand in the air in a non-committal gesture, despite the fact Alya couldn’t see him. “I’ll try and steer Adrien towards her, but I can’t promise he’ll automatically fall for her. You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”

“What? Just hype her up a lot, get him thinking about her. Then, at the sleepover, I have a special little plan to get Marinette to lighten up.” Peter could practically hear her diabolical grin.

“Why do I have a feeling this is going to be objectively the worst idea ever?” 

“It’s only going to be bad if you make it bad, so do us all a favour Parker and don’t fuck it up.”

“Excuse me? If _I_ make it bad? You’ve got lots of room for error yourself, Miss Césaire. For starters, don’t tell Marinette what we’re planning, and I won’t tell Adrien. It’s best to keep them both in the dark.”

“Fine, we’ll keep everyone in the dark. I’m trusting you with this one.”

“I’ll make you regret it somehow, I’m sure,” Peter sighed. “Later, Alya.” He hung up and just stared at his ceiling. The croissant from earlier wasn’t sitting right in his stomach and he used that as an excuse to avoid starting his research for the perfect sleepover food.

They had patrol scheduled for that night, but Peter had the overwhelming urge to suit up and go exploring. He sent a quick text off to Adrien, explaining he wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be at dinner and just wanted to lie down. Dismissing the other boy’s concerns, Peter carefully opened his window, engaging his webshooters before leaping out.

He caught himself before he could hit the ground, webs zipping out and pulling him away from the mansion. It was exhilarating, feeling the wind on his face, whipping through his sweater before he called on Karen, completing his transformation into Spiderman.

The red and blue hero sat atop a roof, watching as the sun slowly began its descent towards the horizon. Cars zipped by below him, people heading home after a long day of work, on their way to see their families. He was glad it had stopped raining, at least in that moment, allowing him to fully enjoy the ambience the city provided. Peter hadn’t been in France for long, but already it felt familiar, like a warm hug. It was his playground, there was nowhere he couldn’t go. New York had always been shrouded in mystery, with a sort of darkness that he saw every time he fought another bad guy. But Paris was light and beautiful and fighting akumas only made him realize how much good was left in humanity.

And here he could never truly be alone, not with his friends by his side. Both in superhero form and out of it, he had two brave human beings with him whenever he needed it.

Simply because he felt like it, Peter took off at a jog, running along the rooftops. The television station was in sight, a huge skyscraper that stretched well above the tops of the homes and buildings surrounding it. Picking up his pace, Peter reached the end of the rooftops, propelling himself into the air. It was an impossible leap for any normal human, but a mere skip for Spiderman as he landed atop the skyscraper, breathing out as he walked to the edge to survey his domain from a new perspective.

The sun was nearing the end of its journey, setting the sky on fire with hues of red and orange, bathing everything in a glow like the city had been painted gold. It was a kingdom in its own.

“This is why they fight so hard to protect it,” Peter said aloud, his words shrouded in awe.

“Protect what?” Karen’s measured reply came in his ear.

“Paris. The people. It’s so beautiful, so peaceful. That’s why Ladybug and Chat Noir take on all that responsibility. There’s really nothing like it.”

Peter backed away from the edge of the building before running back towards it, not stopping at the ledge but leaping over it, allowing himself to free-fall towards the ground. It was exhilarating, kickstarting his adrenaline. Before he could become a bug squashed on the concrete below, Peter thrust out a web, gripping onto the nearest building and sending himself shooting upwards again, backing-flipping over the buildings below. He couldn’t hold back the cheer that ripped out of his throat as he frolicked. It was so freeing.

Spiderman continued like that; flipping and flying across the city, finally landing in the park just as nighttime crept upon them. Brushing himself off, he heard the telltale sounds of a yoyo and someone landing behind him. For how long Ladybug had been following him, Peter didn’t know, but didn’t turn to face her now, adjusting his webshooters as the offered a greeting. “Hello, Ladybug.”

“How did you hear me! I thought I was being sneaky,” she groaned, moving to stand in front of him. Only now did Peter glance up.

“I have sensory overload like, all the time. Everything is dialled up to the max, hearing included. You’re early for patrol.”

“I could say the same to you,” Ladybug offered. “I actually came to talk to you about something.”

“Come on, I thought you were going to talk to Chat and fix things,” Peter groaned, dragging a hand over his mask.

“I did, and we’re good now I think. This isn’t about that.” Okay, now she had his attention.

“So what’s the problem then?”

“I can’t tell you like, _any_ of the details, so if that’s going to bother you then I won’t say anything.” Ladybug looked at him expectantly.

“Why would that bother me? It’s good to have boundaries. I know there are a lot of things us superheroes can’t share.”

“Okay, good! Because Chat sometimes gets weird about it, he seems to think it’s me not trusting him but that’s not it at all!”

“I thought this wasn’t about Chat,” Peter prompted, encouraging her to steer back to the original topic.

“Right, it’s not. Anyways, what would you do if, let’s say hypothetically, there was a sort of power you had access to, and it could change the outcome of all of this and you probably wouldn’t be able to defeat the Papillon without it, what would you do?”

“I’d take it. Wouldn’t you?”

“Okay, but then let’s say you couldn’t use that power, you had to give it to someone else, someone specific. But there’s a very good chance that said person could die or turn evil from the sheer power of it. So placing that person’s life in your hands, would you give them access to that power?”

Peter thought it over. He could piece together bits and pieces of what she was saying, the general gist of it. “Well, like my uncle used to say, ‘with great power comes great responsibility’. Us superheroes know that. You have a responsibility to do what is right for the greater good. It’s never about the individual.”

“Even if it turns the person bad?” Ladybug was looking at him with big eyes and Peter couldn’t help but feel he was becoming a bit of an undeserved mentor.

“If it turns the person bad, then that is their failure, not yours. No matter how hard you try, people are always going to die or turn bad or lose themselves. We are only as big as the choices we make, and if you take away the chance for them to choose for themselves, who’s to say what would have happened?”

“Great power,” Ladybug said, her expression morphing into something of steely resolve. “Thanks, Spiderman, I like that.”

“I’ve been thinking of making it a sort of catchphrase,” Peter spread his hands in the air. “Either that or just me screaming. I use the latter more often in daily conversation, you see.”

Ladybug laughed. “Where do you think that cat is at?”

“Probably taking a catnap somewhere. What do you say we get some bread or something? I didn’t have dinner and the Dupain-Cheng bakery is calling my name.” He winked at Ladybug who didn’t look too impressed.

“ _You_ can go into the bakery but I tend to avoid it. I don’t like to see my parents in my superhero identity, I always feel like I’m two seconds away from getting exposed.”

“Fineee, I’ll dip in there real quick. You text Chat and ask him where the heck he is.”

“I don’t have my phone,” Ladybug complained. I lose my purse when I transform.”

“Good god that’s so inconvenient,” Peter said as he strolled towards the bakery. “I mean, ever since I upgraded my suit, my clothes disappear too, so I guess I’m in the same boat. Or I would be if I didn’t have a literal computer built into the lining. Hey Karen, text Chat Noir and ask him where he is.” He pushed open the door, spinning around to grin at Marinette’s mom.

“Hi Madame Cheng! I was just wondering if it was too late to get some bread?” Peter gave her his most charming smile, which of course she couldn’t see.

“You’re Spiderman. As in Spiderman from the Avengers.” She gaped at him.

“Uh, yeah, I guess that’s me,” Peter cleared his throat. “Can I get some bread…?”

“Of course!” Mme. Cheng helped him with his order, acting almost a bit like Marinette around Adrien, Peter noted. Nonetheless, he was out the door with his bread within no time, rejoining Ladybug outside.

“Satisfied?” She asked as he removed his mouth masking.

“Extremely,” Peter replied around a mouthful of bread. “Ugh you just don’t get good bread like this at my house.”

“Why not?” Ladybug jumped on what she thought was a slip-up but was really just Peter’s way of leading her towards creating a false identity for Spiderman. He had to feed her small, personal tidbits to make her trust him, he could tell. He wasn’t Chat Noir, who she’d grown with as a duo. He was an outsider, and obviously she wouldn’t feel like she could trust him as easily, especially since he knew her identity. So Peter told her a small white lie.

“My brother is a fitness nut. No carbs, no added sugars, no preservatives, it’s like eating compost.”

“I mean, it seems to work, you look pretty strong,” Ladybug offered shyly. “Is your brother…like you?”

“Well, he’s my brother, so we share similar character traits as well as physical makeup- oh! You mean is he a superhero too? Nah, he’s just a regular guy. I was the one who got bit by a spider.”

“Yeah I’ve been meaning to ask; what was that like?”

“Oh, it was so cool! My whole body like, swelled up and-”

“Okay! I get the idea. Any word from Chat Noir?”

Peter checked with Karen, in case he’d somehow missed it. “Nope. Nothing at all. That’s not like him, is it?”

“No,” Ladybug shook her head. “Maybe things weren’t as good between us as I thought.”

“Or maybe he’s already suited up and is without his phone,” Peter pointed out. “Can’t you communicate with him via your yoyo or something?”

“Yeah, I can track him too!” She grabbed her yoyo, sliding it open before trying to call Chat. Surprisingly, he picked up.

“Hello My Lady!”

“Chat? Where have you been?”

“Doing patrols?”

“Why didn’t you come meet up with us first?” Ladybug looked genuinely hurt and Peter felt like he was intruding.

“I didn’t think I had to. It’s just patrols.” Chat replied casually.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Ladybug said. “But never mind, I guess. It’s not like communication is important.” She slid the yoyo shut slightly harder than Peter thought was warranted.

“Damn,” Peter said. “I thought that giving you guys the phones would help with communication, not ruin it.”

“I have no idea why he’s acting like this,” Ladybug said, placing her hands on her hips. “Sometimes he gets like this before press meetings, so I guess it would line up since we’ve got one tomorrow, but usually he comes around. He’s never really iced me out like this before, at least not for this long.”

Peter winced. “I’m really sorry, Ladybug. I really am. It’s obvious you care for him, maybe not the way you care for Adrien, but I know Chat is still really important to you, and I’m not going to lie, he’s acting kind of childish right now.” She didn’t ask how he knew she liked Adrien, and he didn’t elaborate, giving her the chance to form her own conclusions, but it didn’t even seem like she noticed.

“He always acts childish. Sometimes I think he doesn’t get enough attention at home. But you’re right; I do care for him. Which is why it annoys me so much when he shuts me out. How am I supposed to help him if he won’t talk to me!”

“I’ll try talking to him,” Peter offered. “I somehow feel like this is my fault for coming in here and disrupting your dynamic.”

“No, don’t say that,” Ladybug gave him a friendly shoulder pat. “You make a great addition to the team. If anything, I feel bad for piling all this on you. But speaking of being on the team and the press conference, do you want to come tomorrow? It’s at the city hall at eleven am sharp.”

“Sure, I’ll be there. I’ve done plenty a press conference in my day.” Peter wasn’t really a fan, per say, of press conferences, but after doing a couple hundred he’d finally figured out how not to lose his head every time a reporter asked him a question. Not that he usually had to answer them. Tony would often jump in and respond for him, saving Peter a lot of embarrassment. But for Ladybug and Chat Noir? He’d do his best.

“And I hate asking, but could you check on Chat for me? I thought we were good, but apparently not.”

“Of course, anytime. Goodnight Ladybug, I’ll probably head home after I talk to him.”

“Goodnight Spidey,” she said affectionately as he swung off into the night.

It took him precisely two minutes to find Chat, who wasn’t actually doing patrols. He was sitting on a bridge, balanced on the ledge and staring down at the water.

“Rough night kitty cat?” Peter asked, landing nimbly next to him. Chat’s cat ears were droopy, confirming Peter’s suspicions; they really did offer insight into the boy’s emotions. And he was currently feeling sad.

“I’m an idiot,” Chat wailed, burying his face in his hands. “I really didn’t mean to skip out on talking to her, it’s just I saw her standing there by the bakery, all by herself, and I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t talk to her alone.”

“She was waiting for me,” Peter explained. “And not going to lie, she seemed pretty hurt that you’re avoiding her.”

“I don’t mean to, I just don’t want to make her feel bad for existing again. I’m so worried about saying the wrong thing now. Usually I just flirt my way out of everything, but now I’m worried I’m overstepping or something and I just don’t know how to tell her that.”

Peter sighed. _These two are so complicated._ “You’re not overstepping. When you’re not your normal Chat self, that worries her. Just be yourself, whatever version you think is most genuine.”

“Thanks Spidey. You make everything seem so…simple.”

“I’m a simple guy. I’ve had enough complications for a lifetime. Now let’s go find Miss Ladybug so you two can get alright and dandy and that way I don’t have to be an awkward buffer between you two tomorrow at the conference.”

“You’re coming? Thank god.” Adrien hopped back onto solid ground, readying his baton. “I always say the wrong things at those. For some reason I literally can’t stay serious and I wind up annoying Ladybug. If you don’t believe me, the proof is only a short google search away.”

“Oh I believe you,” Peter laughed. “Now let’s go see your Lady.”

Ladybug yelped in surprise when the two of them landed in front of her, Chat sporting his usual cheeky grin, Spiderman looking as unreadable as always.

“We’re back! I know you missed me,” Chat spread his arms wide, as if looking for a hug. Ladybug smacked him in the chest.

“Grow up and use your big boy words if you’ve got a problem with me,” she huffed. “Don’t just run off like that.”

“My Lady, I love it when you lecture me,” Chat said, pressing a hand over his heart.

“Not to interrupt,” Peter purposefully interrupted. “But do you guys have a sort of outline you use at press conferences? Is there like a topic we’re supposed to be bringing to light?”

“Yeah, you,” Chat said pointedly. “We gotta introduce the third member of our team.”

“We usually just answer their questions,” Ladybug replied, fingers toying with her yoyo.

“You’re not supposed to actually answer questions at a press conference,” Peter said, recalling all the debriefs Tony had given him before almost every single event. “You answer their question with a question. That way they can’t take what you say out of context.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Ladybug frowned. “That won’t give them any useful information.”

“No, but it allows us to control what questions we actually get asked,” Chat caught on. “That’s smart. You’re a smart guy, Spiderman.”

Ladybug’s miraculous beeped loudly, interrupting Peter’s thoughts. “That’s my cue to go,” she said sympathetically. “Chat, text me later. See you guys at eleven?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Chat said, waving as she left before turning to Peter with a look of absolute glee. “She asked me to text her!”

“You’re an idiot, Agreste, you know that?” Peter couldn’t help but laugh at the spacey expression on Chat’s face as he too, took his leave. “See you tomorrow!”

Peter swung through his bedroom window, landing on his bed as his suit dissolved around him. He could hear Adrien sneak in next door, obviously in a rush to text Ladybug.

 _Technically, Adrien has already fallen in love with Marinette. Only he doesn’t know it’s Marinette. But if we just ignore that, I’ve already upheld my end of the deal with Alya,_ Peter thought. _Cuz there’s no way that Adrien is just going to switch over to Marinette like that. In fact, I think it’d be easier to make Marinette fall for Chat Noir._ Now that was a thought and a half.

 _But I promised Alya I’d talk to Adrien about Marinette,_ Peter nagged himself. He won himself over, resolving to talk to Adrien about it at breakfast.

“What?” Adrien looked at Peter, oatmeal paused halfway to his mouth.

“I asked what you thought about Marinette,” Peter supplied.

“No, I heard you, I’m just wondering why you’re asking.” Adrien placed his spoon back down, an action that only spurred Peter further into the conversation.

“Well, you two seem to be pretty close, and she’s an attractive girl, so…?”

“You’re into Marinette?” Adrien asked and Peter facepalmed.

“No! I’m asking if _you’re_ into Marinette.”

“Peter, you know I like-”

“Ladybug, yes, I know,” he sighed, rubbing his temples. _Everyone here is so clueless, so stupid, she literally looks exactly the same._

“Marinette is just a really great friend,” Adrien said, resuming his eating. “Her and I have gotten closer lately, and it’s kind of nice.”

“Okay, but let’s just say that hypothetically someone came along and simply removed Ladybug from existence like she didn’t exist, you didn’t remember her, who would you like then?”

Adrien looked thoughtful. “It’s impossible to tell.”

 _No it’s not, you just have no braincells!_ Peter checked the time on his phone before he could lose his mind. They’d both slept in, and Peter currently had two hours before the press conference. Two hours to break this boy. Or, you know, plan out a menu for the sleepover.

“I’m thinking pizza,” Peter said once they were safely secured in Adrien’s room, away from eavesdroppers. “Pizza is a classic sleepover food. Popcorn, candies…dude I should set up a snack charcuterie board!”

“Yeah! I love charcuterie boards,” Adrien agreed enthusiastically. “We can get really good cheese for it too.”

“Not an actual charcuterie board, I’m talking like one with candy bars instead of ham, sour patch kids instead of cheese, that sort of thing.” Peter was writing a list down in his notes app. “I’ll go Friday morning to pick everything up from the grocery store. Should I order a fruit basket?”

“Sure? If that’s a thing that people do, then go for it.”

“Oh it’s definitely not, I just want a fruit basket.”

Peter politely excused himself with twenty minutes left on the clock, making up some half-assed excuse about needing to look on a website at fruit baskets. It was obviously a lie, he’d already made up his mind to get one of those edible arrangements with chocolate dipped strawberries, the mere notion of a fruit basket decidedly not grandiose enough. Adrien didn’t question it since he also had to sneak out, making up some lie about having homework to prevent Peter from coming back to his room whilst he was out on the town as Chat Noir.

It was crucial, however, that they didn’t leave at the same time. Peter turned on x-ray vision, watching Adrien pace around his room, muttering to the open air, before transforming and leaping away.

“He’s trying to make me late,” Peter, unimpressed, muttered under his breath as he watched Adrien disappear over the top of a building. “Karen, transform me.”

Within seconds he was swooping away, zooming towards the city hall as fast as he could. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir were perched atop the building, eyes anxiously scanning for Spiderman. And oh boy did he deliver.

Taking a quick detour, he skirted the perimeter so he could come up behind them, leaping high into the air before deploying his web wings, swooping down over their heads and doing a gentle flip to land.

“Since when do you have _wings?_ ” Chat stared as the web wings shrunk back into the suit.

“They’re not really wings. I’m like a flying squirrel,” Peter shrugged. “Ready to rock and roll?”

“A flying spider then,” Chat said. “Let’s do this.”

Together they walked to the edge of the building’s roof, looking down at the swarm of reporters below. It was a lot less than Peter was used to, to say the least.

“Oh this is nothing. When you said press conference, I was picturing like a sea of reporters all screaming at once. Well, let’s give them a show.” Peter didn’t give them a second to dwell on his statement, jumping off the roof and shooting a web out, just missing several reporter’s heads. As soon as his little swing show was finished, he flipped back over their heads, landing at the podium. Ladybug jumped down beside him, Chat Noir descending down his baton. The reporters excitedly snapped pictures, eyes wide in awe. Alya was in the front row, holding out her familiar phone with the ladybug charm. Peter made sure to angle his head towards her so she could get a good shot.

“Hello everyone!” Ladybug took the lead after a moment of waving and cheers, stepping up to the mic. “Thank you for coming out today. Before we open the floor to questions, Chat Noir and I have a very exciting announcement to make, the details of which I’m sure you can all guess.”

Chat joined her, sweeping an arm out to Peter. “This is Spiderman. If you don’t recognize him, he’s one of New York’s most famous superheroes, and lately he’s joined our team here in Paris.”

“Do you want to say anything?” Ladybug asked Peter. Really, he was good just to stand there, but he figured he might as well introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Spiderman, as Chat Noir so kindly said. I’m visiting in Paris for awhile to help in the battle against the Papillon, who I have learned has been terrorizing Paris for quite some time now. I’m really just here to say hi. If you see me swinging around, feel free to say hello, I love to chat. Anyways let’s hear those questions!” He pointed to Alya first, going for some familiar territory.

“Does this mean that the Papillon is an Avengers level threat?”

“What would you classify as an Avengers level threat?” Peter deflected with another question. “I’m not here on behalf of the Avengers, I’m just here to help out.” _Technically_ he’d told Ladybug and Chat Noir that he was there at Mr. Stark’s urging, but that didn’t exactly mean he was there on Avengers business. Avoiding discrepancies was the way to go.

Ladybug pointed at another reporter, who asked, “how will this contribute to the future of superheroes in Paris? We know about Rena Rouge, Carapace, Queen Bee, as well as others whose names we don’t know, but they were never formally announced as members of your team. Why is Spiderman the first?”

“Spiderman’s powers are different than ours, and they give him an advantage when it comes to being available to fight akumas at any given moment. That is a very valuable resource to us, and we decided to introduce him so that you all know you can trust him just as much as you trust us.”

Reporters began calling out their questions and Peter did his best to call on them one by one, answering their questions politely and also quickly. His counterparts’ smiles never wavered, but their eyes were giving a silent plea for help.

“That will be all for today. Thank you for your questions and time,” Peter wrapped it up, giving the audience finger guns. “Catch you next time!” He backed away from the podium, shooting his web up to the town hall roof, pulling himself up up and away. He’d barely gotten back to his room by the time Ladybug’s text scrolled across his vision.

**[ That wasn’t a total disaster ]**

**[ Thanks Spidey ]**

[ I tend to try and avoid total disasters ]

[ I’ve been told that public meltdowns are unseemly ]

That was one event done, one to go, the threat of Adrien’s sleepover and the autumn dance still looming on the horizon.

Friday came far too soon. An akuma attack on both Tuesday and Wednesday only seemed to speed the week up and suddenly it was Friday morning. It seemed like Ladybug and Chat Noir had put their differences aside for now, their usual dynamic returning at full swing. It was a huge relief for Peter, though he didn’t tell anyone. Who would he even tell?

Adrien was a ball of energy as they watched his father leave, peeking through Peter’s bedroom door. Both him and Nathalie stepped out the door, just as Adrien had planned, leaving only the poor Gorilla to take care of the mischievous Agreste offspring.

“FREEDOM!” Adrien yelled in victory, punching his fist in the air.

“Wait until the car’s at least out the gate before you say that,” Peter said dryly.

“Good point,” Adrien said, peeking out the door once again. “Okay, they’re gone. FREEDOM!” He recreated his previous action.

“I should warn you, I’m not good at these school dance things.” Peter cleaned off his shoes with a tissue, restoring their shine. The Doc Martens Adrien had gotten him were still the nicest shoes he owned, so they were the natural choice to wear with his hand-me-down suit.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Adrien looked down at creased suit. “Actually, don’t answer that. You’re not wearing that. I can already tell that the shoulder seam is going to be like, halfway down your arm.”

“It’s too late to go shopping,” Peter whined. “Plus, there’s no point blowing a bunch of money on a suit I’m only going to wear once.”

“We’re not going shopping,” Adrien said, pulling out his phone with a wink. “We’re bringing the shopping to us. Hello, Tommy? Yes, it’s Adrien Agreste. I need a suit for a friend for tonight. Would you be able to send some of your team over? Great, thanks.”

“Tommy?”

“Tom Ford. I’d wear his suits if I didn’t have to wear Agreste label,” Adrien grinned. “We’re going to get you some new threads.”

After feeling like his personal space had been thoroughly violated by a team of tailors in Adrien’s foyer, Peter was dressed in a suit that’s price tag resided somewhere in the five figures.

“Adrien, this is too much,” Peter hissed.

“It’s free for me,” Adrien waved a hand dismissively. “He owed me a favour. Anyways, it comes with a cologne sample!”

Peter shook his head at him as Adrien said his goodbyes to the tailors. He had to admit, it was one of the nicest things he owned, right behind the spidey suit. He’d had to tuck his necklace away under his pillow, lest one of the tailors notice it and ask questions. As soon as Adrien’s back was turned, he ran to retrieve it, tucking it back under his collar.

“You don’t have to wear that until the dance,” Adrien laughed. “You can go change.”

“It’s so close to my body I feel like I’m going to rip all the seams out the second I try.”

“It’s not tight, it’s just properly tailored. Unlike your sweaters, hoodies, shirts, that god awful other suit you had with you-”

“Okay, thank you Mr. Moneybags,” Peter sniffed. “I believe I have heard enough from the boy who doesn’t even know how to plan a sleepover.” Nevertheless he changed back into his regular clothes, helping Adrien rearrange his room to fit the ‘beds’ Adrien seemed to think people were bringing.

“Someone can sleep on the couch,” Adrien said. “And I guess I’ll sleep on my bed?”

“Wrong,” Peter said. “Your bed is all the way over there, and we’re sleeping in this main area. You’re moving over here with us.”

“I don’t think we can fit everyone’s beds in just this space.”

“People aren’t bringing their _beds_ , they’ll be bringing like, sleeping bags and blankets.”

Adrien stared at him blankly. “A bag? For sleeping? That doesn’t sound comfortable.”

“They’re padded…? Have you never been camping?” Apparently Adrien hadn’t been camping either. Peter was feeling increasingly bad for him and his evident lack of a childhood.

“We’ll let people fight it out over the couch, and everyone else will sleep in their sleeping bags on the floor,” Peter clarified. “I promise it’s more fun than it sounds. That way everyone can see the tv if we move it over here, and it’s just a fun time all around!”

Adrien nodded slowly. “So this will make it fun?”

“Yes,” Peter deadpanned. “Now if you excuse me, I have to go get several items from the supermarket. If the doorbell rings, answer it and put it in the fridge.”

“Put what in the fridge?”

“The box, it’ll say something on it about edible arrangements, I don’t really know, just put it in there so it stays fresh.”

And with that he left Adrien to his own devices, on his way to get as much candy as he could get his hands on. The French _knew_ how to do sweets. He managed to fill an entire basket with candy, popcorn, and chips, loading it up on a till with a cashier who was 100% judging Peter’s life choices.

“I’ve got a sweet tooth,” he said, pulling out his school-issued charge card. “Put it all on here.”

Adrien’s eyes went wide when Peter returned, dumping his loot on the floor. “This is more candy than I eat in a year. Possibly two.”

“Well there was a bunch of candy on the shelves that I’d never seen before and I wanted to try. Like Régal’ad? Never heard of it, but I would love to become acquainted.” Peter looked at the orange package of chewy candies with longing. “But I have self control! So what are you, Adrien Agreste, supermodel extraordinaire, going to be wearing?”

Adrien grinned at him, tearing his eyes away from the candy. “Get ready, it’s a bit of a knockout.” He headed over to his closet, returning a few moments later with a full ensemble in his hands. A cropped pink jacket with gold accents and a black interior, a white button up shirt made of a thin yet undoubtedly expensive material, and heavy black dress pants, not a single crease in sight.

“Okay, I’m sorry I asked,” Peter said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I bow before you, Oh Fashion God.”

“As you should,” Adrien flaunted. “Pink is obviously my shade. Combined with the black, it’ll make these green eyes pop. Also your ‘edible arrangement’ came. I stuck it in the fridge.”

“Awesome, thanks,” Peter said, placing his hands on his hips as he surveyed the room. “Now let’s get to setting up.”

They spent the next few hours cleaning and rearranging the space until it was in Peter’s ideal sleepover set-up. True to his word, he did indeed create a candy charcuterie board to the best of his abilities.

“That looks so cool,” Adrien marvelled at it.

“Yeah, don’t wreck it,” Peter warned, placing it carefully on the coffee table which had been moved to stand along the windows. “I take too much pride in my work for anything to happen to it.”

“Yeah, well, it just has to stay safe for the next hour and then we’re at the dance,” Adrien said, checking the time, then double checking it. “We’ve only got an hour and we’ve still gotta get ready!”

“An hour is plenty of time,” Peter said, unfazed.

“Not when you’re me, it’s not! I’ve got to take a shower, fix my hair, do my full skin routine, get dressed, shine my shoes,” Adrien was running around, grabbing things.

“Okay you’re stressing me out now too,” Peter rolled his eyes. “I guess I’ll go do all of those things.” And he did. After a steaming, luxurious shower, Peter stood in front of the mirror, meticulously arranging all the hairs on his head. There wasn’t really anyone he was trying to impress, but watching himself transform from a boy to a handsome young man never got old for him. And his brand new Tom Ford suit only accented that transition.

“Looking good,” Peter said to himself in the mirror, letting out a low whistle before spraying a measured amount of the free cologne over himself. “And smelling good too.” He snapped a mirror selfie, sending it to Aunt May for approval before heading out to meet Adrien in the hallway.

“We leave as soon as the dance starts,” Adrien said. “That way we’re-”

“Precisely ten minutes late, I remember,” Peter replied. His friend looked truly stunning, like pink had been put into the world for him specifically to wear it. Everything was tailored for his slim yet fit form, the black pants resting slightly above his hipbones, accentuating his waist. “Now I can see why you’re a model.”

“Like you didn’t believe it before?” Adrien posed, jutting out a hip with a flash of his candy apple eyes. “Nah, I just own it when I want to. And right now, I want to own it.”

“We should get a picture before we have to go stand in some sweaty gymnasium,” Peter said. “Where’s your bodyguard?” He found the bodyguard easily, he was lurking in the foyer, playing with action figures of some sort.

“Hey Mr. Gorilla, can you take a picture of Adri and I?” The bodyguard looked at Peter’s suit suspiciously, raising one half of his prominent brow line. “We’re just going to the store, all dressed up, for a few hours. It’s good practicing for modelling, wearing the clothes in a casual environment. You’re cool with that, right?”

There was a heartbeat of Peter and the Gorilla staring at each other, both of their stares intent and calculating before the bodyguard gave in with a shrug, taking a few quick pictures of Adrien and Peter, the two boys posing like they were going to be on the next cover of Vogue.

“Sick, let’s go,” Peter said, taking his phone back and turning to the bodyguard. “We won’t need you to accompany us, I can beat you at an arm wrestle, so I’m sure I can protect Adrien just fine.” Once again, the Gorilla just shrugged, this time with an added grunt, returning to his dolls.

“I still don’t understand how you did that,” Adrien whispered as they walked swiftly out the door and down the steps.

“Like I told you, I have some special talents,” Peter said. “Now explain to me what one of your dances looks like, like what should I expect?”

“Well Nino often DJ’s for them,” Adrien said. “Other than that, I know literally nothing. This is my first school dance I’ve been allowed- well I guess not allowed- but been able to attend. I’m sure it’s going to be great!” He positively beamed, practically skipping his way to the school.

Peter followed, less certain about how great of a time it was going to be, already feeling uncomfortably warm in his fancy suit. There was so much that could go wrong. It was a social gathering, tensions would be running high, the perfect opportunity for an akumatization. But he was determined not to ruin Adrien’s good time, so he forced himself to calm down and enjoy it while it lasted.

The outside of the school was also decorated, to Peter’s surprise, the festivities were not limited to the gym. As they approached, the strings of light came into view, along with tables with punch and various snacks on them.

“Save your appetite,” Peter said. “I spent way too much money on candy for you to not be hungry once this is over.”

“I know social gathering etiquette,” Adrien replied, casually bumping Peter’s shoulder with his own as they headed inside. “Mingle first. Drinks come later. Fist fights are at the very end.”

“Sure,” Peter agreed mildly. “Hey, did you and Marinette plan to be matching?”

They weren’t technically matching. But it was enough that it looked intentional. Marinette was wearing a beautiful pink dress with a corset bodice, the boning of the corset covered with a shiny gold material, matching Adrien’s jacket with its gold accents. The skirt was simple, made of a thick fabric with a white tulle layer overtop. Her heels were gold, with a branch design that snaked its way up the side of her calf. Peter had to admit she looked stunning.

Adrien had yet to pick his jaw up off the floor.

“Uh, it wasn’t planned, I guess its just a happy accident?” Adrien suggested. The lighting in the gym was low, coloured lights that almost hid the entirety of Adrien’s blush. It didn’t go unnoticed by Peter.

“So, what do you think?” He prompted.

“I think she’s a great fashion designer, I mean look at that corset structure! It really suits her and it must have taken forever to sew.”

“You’re impossible, you know that?” Peter didn’t get to tell Adrien just _how_ impossible he was, interrupted by Marinette and Alya joining them. Alya was wearing the very definition of a little black dress, showing off her admittedly stunning figure.

“Well don’t you boys look handsome?” Alya asked, eyes sweeping over the pair of them. Marinette seemed frozen in place, just staring at Adrien.

“Okay, they’re totally twinning right now, right?” Peter said, stepping back from Adrien to stand by Alya, gesturing between Marinette and the supermodel, pretending to look thoughtful.

“Yeah, totally. I see it.” Alya nodded along with him. “It’s like the picture perfect couple.”

“We’re…not…,” Marinette stammered. “Alya? Can I talk to you for a second?” She grabbed her friend’s arm, dragging her off into a sea of people.

“Let’s go find Nino,” Adrien suggested, raising his voice so he could be heard over the music. “He’ll be at the front.”

After plenty ‘excuse me’s and ‘oh sorry’s they had successfully pushed themselves through the throng of dancing bodies, reaching Nino, who was wearing a pair of light-up glasses and seated in the DJ booth. They didn’t seem convenient for seeing, but the DJ wore an ear-to-ear grin as he fiddled with knobs on his soundboard.

“Hey dudes! Looking fly!” Nino yelled to them, the music significantly louder where he was standing.

“Hey Nino!” They returned the greeting.

“I’ll be out once things start to die down,” Nino informed them, laying down another track. “Say hi to the girls for me, and tell Alya I’ll be there for the first slow song.”

“Can we request songs?” Peter asked, hopping on up to Nino’s level. “Just out of curiosity.”

“No, not a chance. I’ve got the perfect playlist lined up,” Nino said, swatting Peter away. “And nothing is changing that.”

That night Peter learned that he could, in fact, request songs, after he proceeded to pester Nino after every song, requesting the same song over and over again until Nino finally got on the mic.

“This song goes out to Peter Parker, who has been requesting this song for the past hour. Please leave me alone now. Here’s Mr. Brightside, folks!”

Peter also learned that night that, although his classmates may be terrible at English, they knew almost all the words to Mr. Brightside, an apparently universally beloved song. Peter himself was jumping up and down in a circle around Alya, Marinette, and Adrien, screaming the lyrics at the top of his lungs with a fervour only matched by Alix who seemed to be enjoying the song just as much as him. The tiny girl was all the way across the gymnasium, but her voice carried.

“Destiny is calllingggg me!” Peter sang, gripping Adrien’s shoulders through his very expensive jacket. Adrien grinned, only spurring Peter on, causing him to grab Adrien and Alya’s hands, gesturing for Marinette to join. She did after a moments hesitation, completing the circle. Peter started pulling, spinning them around, picking up speed before Marinette lost her balance, sending them all tumbling down. Alya thudded to the ground a few feet away, having spun out, and Peter had nimbly caught himself before he could fall too hard. Marinette, however, had landed right on Adrien’s lap and they were now staring at each other, expressions of surprise mirrored on each other’s faces.

Before either made a move to get up, the lights dimmed, turning shades of pink and red as Nino’s promised slow song begun. Peter recognized it as a cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love’.

 _Fitting,_ he thought, watching as Adrien moved Marinette off his lap, standing and offering his hand to her. She accepted it, her eyes still wide, and he pulled her towards him, one arm landing around her waist as they seamlessly transitioned into a waltz. Peter felt an arm grab him, something hard being thrust into his hand. He glanced down, unsurprised to see Alya’s phone as her and Nino twirled away, her message clear: take pictures. It felt creepy, to hold up a phone and take a picture, so Peter carefully (and quietly) had Karen deploy a singular Spiderman eye so that the suit would record the dance. He held a hand up to the suit, blocking his new red and white extremity from unwanted onlookers, hoping it wouldn’t obscure the scene unravelling before his very eyes.

It seemed Nino had lined up several slow songs, giving Marinette plenty of time to snap out of her stupor, eventually gathering up the courage to slip her arms around Adrien’s neck as the second song started. Peter bit back a smile at the sheer irony of it all. There was his friend, dancing with the girl of his dreams, unaware of who she was and how much he loved her.

And Peter knew that some small part of Adrien knew just what was in front of him. There was nothing ‘just friend’-ly about the way Adrien looked down at Marinette, who’s head had found its way to his chest.

As for Marinette, well it looked like she was in heaven. Dancing with the very boy she’d rejected only slightly more than a week ago, equally as oblivious. The whole scene was so sweet that Peter couldn’t help but feel so out of place. He’d never really considered romance a possibility for Spiderman. Sure, he’d tried with Liz, but that disaster had deterred him from any further attempts. Telling one’s significant other their identity only put them in danger, but hiding it from them also caused issues with the relationship. Peter had elected to avoid it all together.

Maybe Marinette and Adrien were made for each other, or maybe their bond transcended their double life. Adrien had stated that Marinette was just a friend, yet he seemed drawn to her, something that would have been inexplicable had Peter not known both their true selves. Both Ladybug and Chat Noir, the heart and soul of Paris, did not disappear when they took off their costumes, that much was apparent. Even now, in a crowded gymnasium, it seemed like the light favoured them, like the music was for their ears alone. The way they held each other suggested something deeper than just friendship, the way Adrien hugged her close to his chest as they swayed, all rhythm long forgotten.

 _“This one’s safe,”_ their bodies seemed to suggest, well within their own little bubble. And Peter couldn’t agree more. As long as they were together, the outside world could never hurt them. Not in any way that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrienette fluff? Who would’ve thought I’d actually let it happen? Also, might I just say that I live for Alya and Peter scheming behind Adrien’s back. I promise next chapter will actually have some plot to it ;)
> 
> Soooooo I started a sketch of Adrien and Marinette’s outfits for the dance, but I didn’t finish it in time to post it with this, so I’ll attach it to the next chapter, but just picture Harry Styles’s custom velvet Gucci jacket that he wore in like, April of 2018 for Adrien. Cheers to that, see y’all soon.


	6. Chez Adrien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spiderbug, Spiderbug, does whatever a Ladyman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo the first half of this was originally going to be in the last chapter, but then it got way too long so I split it into two so you can consider the first half chapter 5 part 2. 
> 
> As always, you can check out sketches relating to the chapters here: https://pin.it/5MRmlsl   
> Adrien and Marinette’s outfits they wore to the dance are now up too!

The rest of the dance felt like a lucid dream. Peter could barely remember what had happened beneath the pulsing lights by the time they’d stepped back out into the cool night air. To enjoy himself, sometimes he had to disassociate, and disassociate he had. Vaguely, he could recall Nino crowdsurfing, but it seemed like a distant memory. 

“We’ll be at your place in twenty,” Alya told Adrien. “We’ve got to get our stuff and no one’s home at my house right now, so we’ll have to walk over.”

“I’d offer to have someone come get you, but we’re kind of holding this sleepover _without_ my father’s permission. Unless Peter wants to have Spiderman come get you,” Adrien joked, the way Peter stiffened up blissfully going unnoticed by the group.

Luckily, Marinette came to his rescue. “He’s a superhero, not a taxi service!” She shivered, the autumn air apparently too cold for her in her little dress. Without a second thought, Adrien slipped his suit jacket off, handing it to her.

“Wouldn’t want you to get cold on your way back to Alya’s,” he gave her a kind smile.

“Okay, Nino’s staying to help clean up,” Peter said, checking the time on his phone. “So let’s go get ready, Adrien.”

They stopped to get the pizza Peter had ordered earlier in the day, carrying the six boxes between them. Realistically, they didn’t need that much, but Peter didn’t know people’s personal preferences and had simply elected to get a variety. Better safe than sorry. The only option he didn’t have was Hawaiian pizza, because who puts pineapples on pizza anyways?

“So,” Peter braved as they entered the empty house. The Gorilla had gone to sleep, it seemed. “Seemed like you had a pretty great time with Marinette there.”

“Huh?” Adrien glanced at Peter, like he’d been snapped out of some kind of stupor. “Yeah, she’s one of my best friends. It’s always nice to dance with her. No pressure or anything.”

“Hmm,” Peter hummed thoughtfully, bringing the pizza up the steps to Adrien’s room. “You two didn’t look like just ‘best friends’ back there, but I guess I can’t really judge.”

“Peter, I know what you and Alya are up to,” Adrien said, setting his share of the pizza boxes down on the floor by his tv. “And I appreciate the thought, but Marinette and I really are just friends. I don’t want to ruin our friendship with your guys’ scheming. Trust me I’ve tried looking at her like that, but I can’t, not right now. I can’t explain it to you, but I just need you to trust what I’m saying.” Adrien stood there, arms hanging limp by his sides, his eyes filled with emotion. Not necessarily a sad emotion, but the sort that seemed to need Peter to understand and move past it.

 _Right. Ladybug._ Peter could’ve kicked himself. Of course Adrien wasn’t over Ladybug. He still loved her, and he couldn’t just switch targets like that, even if it was the same girl.

“Sorry Adrien, I didn’t mean to meddle like that,” Peter apologized, placing his pizzas atop the existing stack.

“It’s fine, I’m not mad. I know how Alya can be when she’s trying to rope people into her schemes.” Adrien waved a hand, but his energy had been dimmed. Peter felt horrible for being the one to steal that light.

“I’ll go get changed,” Peter said, heading back into his room. Even if Adrien didn’t want to be coupled with Marinette, he still had the recordings of them dancing. Adrien _had_ enjoyed himself before Peter had managed to screw it up, and maybe giving Adrien a few stunning shots to remember the night by would smooth things over.

“Karen, upload tonight’s recording to my laptop, retrieve the best shots and run them through a photo-retoucher and I’ll filter them myself later,” Peter said, stripping out of his fancy suit and hanging it back up before it could so much as touch the ground.

“Of course, Peter,” Karen’s detached voice came from his necklace. That was one thing taken care of. Now he just had to get Adrien back in the party mood. He pulled on his pyjamas, a grey sweater and pink hello kitty sweatpants, before heading back to Adrien’s room. Adrien seemed to want to move past their previous conversation, and he wore a huge grin.

Adrien was wearing the pyjamas Peter had gotten him, much to his delight. “I figured this was as good as occasion as any to bust these bad boys out.”

“You’re right, it’s the perfect occasion,” Peter agreed as his phone pinged. He checked it quickly. “The girls and Nino are outside. They climbed the gate, somehow.”

The two boys practically ran down the stairs to open the door, admitting their three breathless friends.

“That was enough of a workout for at least a month, I think,” Alya wheezed, thrusting her overnight bag into Peter’s arms. It was suspiciously bulky.

“Let’s take this party upstairs,” Adrien said. “My bodyguard is either sleeping or lurking around here somewhere, and I’d rather not find out which.”

Their little party trooped up the stairs before collapsing in Adrien’s room. Peter couldn’t help but notice the way Marinette’s gaze regularly landed on Adrien, nor did he miss the fact that his jacket was in her arms.

“Nice pyjamas,” she finally squeaked, having seemingly worked up the courage to speak to Adrien directly. _Good job Ladybug,_ Peter thought. _I wonder what she would do if she found out he was the boy she regularly teases._

“Thanks,” Adrien said. “Peter got them for me when he was in London.”

“You were in London?” Marinette’s expression turned puzzled, and Peter could almost see the gears turning in her head.

“Well yeah, I had to accompany Spiderman. It’s quite literally my job.” At this, Alya perked up.

“I think you and me should have a chat about superheroes,” Alya said. “I run the Ladyblog, you’re Spiderman’s assistant, it would make a great interview.”

“Sorry Alya, that would be a direct violation of my non-disclosure agreement,” Peter ~~said~~ lied. “I can’t really talk about Spiderman or the details of my job at all.”

“Who wants to talk about their work anyways?” Nino commented. “No matter how cool it is, I’m sure it gets boring after awhile. What never gets boring though is pizza, and unless my nose deceives me, I smell some fresh pizza.”

“You got it!” Adrien said. “Peter bought literally more pizzas than there is people, so we’ve got plenty.” He set it out and Peter went to gather the edible arrangement. The chocolate-covered strawberry bouquet seemed to be huge hit by the gasps of awe when he carried it out, only serving to stoke his ego. If the whole Spiderman thing didn’t work out, perhaps Peter could have a career in catering.

Everyone set up their sleeping bags and Adrien put on a movie before they dug in, and Peter’s pizza had never tasted so delicious. Something about sharing it with friends just made it way better. Maybe it was also the fact that it used real cheese, but he somehow doubted it.

They talked amicably for a solid half hour, running through the night’s events, before Alya seemed to remember something, perking up.

“I brought everyone a surprise too,” Alya said with a mischievous smile, reaching into her bag and drawing out a few bottles. There it was, the thing that was going to make the whole night go south, Peter could sense it.

“Is that…?” Adrien let his question trail off.

“Pure Russian vodka? Hell yeah it is,” Alya said, pulling disposable shot glasses out of her bag too.

 _Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea,_ Peter’s brain was telling him. And for once he was actually listening. Things had been good thus far, but if there was an akuma attack and Ladybug and Chat Noir were too intoxicated to fight….

“Peter?” Alya asked. “You want some?” She was holding a shot glass out to him.

“No thanks, I’ve had some bad experiences,” Peter said by means of excuse. Being a superhero was a full-time job. And drinking on the job was generally considered a no-no. That being said, he wasn’t going to say anything to Marinette or Adrien. He had to let them make their own choices, and in turn, their own mistakes. 

“Fair enough,” she said, passing out shots to the rest of the group. “Cheers!”

Peter watched with a gnawing sense of dread as his friends downed the liquor, Nino letting out a cheer after. Marinette made a face of disgust until she saw Adrien downing his shot like it was water, erasing the expression from her face as fast as possible and holding out her cup to Alya for more.

“Bathroom,” Peter mumbled, getting up from the group and heading into Adrien’s spacious bathroom. Truth be told, the smell of alcohol was making him lightheaded and reminded of the reason he didn’t partake. He’d had his own share of slacking off and having to suit up the next minute. His spidey senses seemed to get extra thrown off with alcohol, to the point where it was no longer enjoyable in the slightest.

By the time he’d returned to his friends, it seemed that happy hour didn’t need to be a whole hour to get the group completely plastered.

 _How long was I gone?_ He thought, watching as Adrien slid to the floor, giggling uncontrollably.

“Hi Peter, welcome back,” Alya said in a high pitched voice which seemed to make Adrien laugh harder.

 _Fuck. Me._ Peter ran a hand through his hair, almost afraid to rejoin them. Marinette was draped across Alya’s lap, her hand playing with Alya’s hair absent-mindedly. Nino was still eating pizza like nothing had changed.

“Thanks guys,” he said, leaping over the back of the couch and sitting on it, putting some distance between him and the group. “Don’t go throwing up now.”

“Throwing up?” Marinette sat bolt upright, accidentally smacking Alya across the chest with her head. “Is that a thing that happens?”

“Have you never drunk before?” Peter asked. This was just getting better and better.

“Nope! Never!” Marinette said. “I don’t know why, it seems reaaaaallly fun.”

“I’m sure it does,” Peter replied curtly, watching as she swayed slightly in place. “No more for you, okay?”

“Killjoy,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest and pouting. Peter almost laughed at how viciously she said it, like ‘killjoy’ was some sort of coveted swear word. Key word being almost. Because before he could, an alert went off on everyone’s phones except Nino’s. An akuma attack.

“An akuma?” Adrien said incredulously, then laughed. “That’s tough luck.”

“Shit, I gotta go!” Alya bolted to her feet, instantly falling right back over. “Gotta…film….”

“You are not going anywhere,” Peter said. “None of you are. This is a job for the superheroes.” _Present drunk company excluded, of course._ And with that he backed out of the room, darting into his room next door. “Karen, transform me.”

Within seconds he was headed out the window, swinging on his way to find the akuma, before he remembered one very important tidbit. Even if he got the akuma, he wouldn’t be able to purify it, not without the Ladybug miraculous. And Ladybug was in no fit state to be fighting.

“Jesus christ,” Peter swore, headed right back the way he came before swinging in Adrien’s window.

“Spiderman!” Marinette said. Nino screamed, then passed right out. Alya just stared with wide eyes. And Adrien? Well he was still laughing.

“I need to talk to you,” he hissed to Marinette, pulling her out into the hall.

“What is it?” She looked at him with glassy eyes, words slightly slurred. She had definitely not listened to Peter when he’d said no more.

“I need your miraculous. Now.”

That seemed to register with her, but only slightly. She lifted one hand up to her neck, just pressing it there. “I can’t give it to you.”

“Well unless you can transform right now and take down that akuma, there’s no other choice,” Peter said sternly. Then a little pink and black creature floated out from behind Marinette, and Peter almost had an aneurysm.

“Spiderman’s right,” the little bug thing said. It couldn’t have been more than four inches tall, and its eyes seemed to be the biggest feature.

“While I appreciate the backup,” Peter said haltingly, “who are you?”

“I’m Tikki, Ladybug’s kwami!” It announced in a cheery voice.

“Oh, so you’re like, the god thing,” Peter said.

“Sure?” Tikki didn’t sound as enthusiastic anymore. “But Spiderman is right. You can’t transform right now, it won’t even work.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” Marinette wailed.

“Do you trust me?” Peter asked.

“What?”

“Do you trust me with the miraculous?” Peter said slowly, letting it sink in. “I’ll bring it back as soon as possible.”

“We have no other choice,” Tikki supplied helpfully.

“Okay,” Marinette agreed shakily, carefully reaching up and removing her earrings. That was another thing Peter hadn’t considered. He didn’t have his ears pierced.

“Thanks Ladybug. Now go enjoy some of that candy that was left on the coffee table in there,” he said.

She sniffed, giving him a shaky nod before heading back. Spidey, however, raced into his own room, shutting the door firmly before moving to stand in front of the bathroom mirror.

“I’m not going to reveal my identity to you,” Spiderman informed Tikki. “No offense, it’s just a security detail. Karen, analyze most effective piercing point for security.” He watched as a green light in his vision swept up and down his body before coming to highlight two points.

“Most effective place located,” Karen’s voice chirped helpfully.

“I am _not_ piercing my nipples,” Peter said loudly. “Uncover ear masking, we’re going with a good old-fashioned earlobe.” Ignoring the pain, Peter shoved the tiny studs through his earlobes, fastening them before ordering his mask back over it.

“How is this going to work?” Tikki asked.

“I’m just making it up as I go,” Peter said honestly, turning away from her. “Now stay where you are until I ask you to transform, please.”

“Of course, Spiderman,” she agreed.

“Karen, detransform,” Peter said and his suit melted away, leaving just him and only him. “Now Tikki, transform me.”

It was like he’d injected cocaine into his veins as Tikki flew into his earrings. All his previously heightened senses were heightened further, his super-strength increased. He felt like he could take on the world, so much so that he almost forgot what he was supposed to be doing. “Karen, transform!”

The spidey suit expanded outwards from his chest, meeting with the Ladybug transformation and melding together, creating a spidey suit that was every fashion designer’s nightmare. The blue of his suit was gone, as was the web design, replaced by black polka dots on the red suit. Ladybug’s signature yoyo hung from his hips, and his webshooters were in their usual position. It had worked like a, well, charm.

“Wow, that’s ugly,” Peter said, giving himself a once-over before remembering _why_ he was in the awful suit. Paris was currently under attack, and he was checking himself out in the mirror. He needed to get Adrien’s ring, just in case, and then get a move on.

Swinging out the window and back into the Agreste’s room, he was surprised to find Adrien gone.

“Where’s Adrien?” He looked around frantically. Alya pointed to the bathroom, mumbling something incoherent. Sure enough, Adrien was hanging onto the toilet bowl, emptying his pizza meal into it.

“Spiderman?” He said weakly, peaking at him through half-lidded eyes.

“Ring,” Peter said by means of explanation. Adrien gave a slight nod before throwing up again, holding his hand out. Peter plucked it from his hand, opening Ladybug’s yoyo and depositing the ring inside. _Now_ he was prepared to fight.

It didn’t take long to find the akuma, and it had been just as Peter suspected. A student, heartbroken after some event at the dance, was walking around, capturing people in his balloon. Peter could already tell his punch cup was the akumatized object, but he had some unfinished business first.

“Yo, can I speak to your manager?” Peter asked, landing in front of the akuma.

“If I can’t have love, no one can!” The boy yelled, swinging his balloon towards Peter, who easily dodged it. It was almost like time slowed down slightly, all his senses working so much faster than your average human’s.

“Okay, cool, but I want to speak to the Papillon,” Peter said, with more conviction this time. The akuma froze, the telltale purple aura surrounding its face, and the Papillon began to speak through it, just as Peter had hoped.

“Who are you?” The Papillon’s words were said in the boy’s voice as it stood still, staring at Peter with an empty expression. It was creepy, but the most effective way to coax some information out of the distant villain.

He glanced down at his upgraded powers-wise yet downgraded appearance-wise suit. “Fuck man, I don’t even know. Spiderbug? Ladyman? That sounds mad dumb, but that’s all I got. I’m kinda in a hurry.”

“Where are Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

“Currently incapable of being here, so they sent me in their place,” Peter said casually, like he was ordering coffee. Actually, more casually than he ordered coffee.

“You have both miraculous?” The akuma’s voice was excited but its expression remained neutral. Nonetheless, Peter felt like he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

“Why do you want them so much?”

“If you have both miraculous, give them to me and I’ll give you anything you want,” the Papillon was getting dangerously excited, and Peter grinned beneath his mask.

“Why do you want both of them? Why not just one? Why isn’t yours enough?” No one had told him that the Papillon had a miraculous, but he could guess. He’d never had a lot of things explained to him, but it didn’t really matter. Going off observation skills alone, Peter figured he had most of Paris beat.

“Stupid Spiderbug. When combined, the Black Cat and Ladybug miraculous give the wielder infinite power, beyond anything you can ever imagine. They become a god. Creation and destruction combined, it can do anything. So if you have both, combine them now. Combine them now and see just how good it feels.”

“I’m good,” Peter said, thumbing his yoyo. “I’ve met gods, and they are extremely flawed beings. So much family drama. Like seriously, it’s a real headache inducer. Plus, even if I became a god, why would I help you? You can only give me whatever I want if you have the miraculous, and what kind of deal would that be? Like, I make you a god and in return you give me something? Nah man, it would be more like _I_ become a god and then I smite you.”

The Papillon seemed to be thinking, pondering what Peter had just said. “Or I could possess you, turn your heart via one of my akumas, then you’d want to do my bidding.”

“Easier said than done,” Peter said. “You’ll find I’m not so easily swayed by promises of power. I’ve got everything I could ever want. Something tells me you’re not the same.”

“You understand _nothing_ of the real world,” the Papillon spat. “You’re a child, pretending he knows his way around the world, but in reality, you’re nothing but another pawn. Why would you refuse infinite power?”

“It would do more harm than good. With great power comes great responsibility,” Peter quoted. _Yep, definitely making that my catchphrase._ “We were never meant to wield that power. I’m not the Ladybug, you’re not Chat Noir. And I happen to be close with them, they’re great people who would never abuse their power. Not like I know you will the second you get some.”

“I already have power beyond anything you could dream of, boy.”

“Then why are you beat by two teenagers on the regular? Wasn’t it Einstein who said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Although I think you have some other underlying issues you ought to see a therapist about anyways,” Peter said. He had been slowly inching closer to the akuma and was now only an inch away, his hand slowly reaching out to grab the object. It couldn’t be this easy, could it?

“And, while it’s great to know about this whole infinite power thing, getting a bit of an insight to your mind, I think it’s getting kind of late, and my parents are probably wondering where I am-” lies “-so I think I’ll have to end this conversation, at least for now. Really good chat though.” And with that, Peter plucked the cup from the akuma’s hand, crushing it in his hands.

A little purple and black butterfly flew out and Peter nabbed it, his skills with the yoyo almost natural given his time spent swinging from webs.

“What’s it she always says?” He asked the de-akumatized boy, who looked at Spiderman with a mixture of confusion, horror, and abject awe.

“You’re Spiderman,” he said breathily.

“Now I may be new to this, but I’m pretty damn sure that’s not what she says,” Peter said as the yoyo snapped open. “I didn’t say that little sentence about ‘freeing the bad’ or whatever but it looks fine,” he remarked, watching as the little white butterfly flew away.

“See you later, loser!” He called after it, giving it two enthusiastic middle fingers up before realizing the people who had been trapped in the balloon hadn’t returned. “Oh no, I didn’t use that lucky charm thing. Okay, lucky charm!” He threw the yoyo up, catching the (for some reason) entire street lamp that fell from the sky, thrusting it back up.

“Miraculous Spidermanbug! Now _that’s_ got a nice ring to it.”

The teenager on the pavement still looked extremely confused as he got up, giving Spiderman a little wave before jogging off as the magic ladybugs returned everything to normal.

“I guess I should return Adrien’s ring,” Peter mumbled as he swung through the night. “And Ladybug her earrings.” He landed back in his room, walking into the bathroom, reaching into the yoyo as he did so. To his surprise, the first item he pulled out wasn’t the ring, but a box. It was black, with an intricate red design on the top. Now, Peter was a curious person by nature, and he felt so drawn to the box. Its power was speaking to him, he could feel it, so he dropped it right back into the yoyo and pulled out the ring instead. Long ago he had decided not to be a slave to temptation and this was just another opportunity to practice what he preached.

He had no idea where Chat Noir’s kwami had gone, perhaps it had been sleeping and not noticed its owner was ring-less? Peter had no idea how any of it worked.

He set the ring on the counter, ordering Karen to remove his ear masking as he did so. Then the earrings were free from his stinging ears, his transformation falling around him, allowing him to go back to a regular old Spiderman. But Tikki was back, evidently not worn out from the night’s events at all as she zoomed around his head while Peter’s suit closed back over his ears.

“I’m so glad you have a good head on your shoulders, Spiderman!” Tikki squeaked, beaming.

“I can’t take credit,” Peter said glumly. “I’ve made mistakes before, some a lot worse than just getting drunk on a weekend while hanging out with friends. Adrien and Marinette are still learning, only now having that opportunity to make those mistakes. It doesn’t make me a better hero than them. Because I know this will be a learning experience for them too.”

“You seemed to really get inside the Papillon’s head,” Tikki said thoughtfully. “Ladybug and Chat Noir have never tried that approach.”

“He must’ve been having an off day, because that was literally the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I love chatting up the villains, but usually they’re actively fighting back,” Peter commented as he adjusted his webshooters. “Now, are we ready to return these miraculous to our little party animals?”

Tikki made a sound of agreement, her expression proud as Peter scooped up the miraculous. When he returned to the party, Marinette was passed out in her sleeping bag, fast asleep, Alya and Nino in their respective bags also. Adrien was nowhere to be seen, so Spiderman carefully reached down, carefully slipping the earrings back into Marinette’s piercings, fastening them with gentle fingers. Now where was that blond rascal?

He wasn’t in the bathroom, that much was obvious. Peter walked out into the hall, surveying the house, wondering where Adrien could have wandered off when he saw that the front door was wide open.

Adrien hadn’t gotten far. He was sitting just out front, having made it down the front steps before giving up.

“Spiderman,” he breathed as Peter touched down beside him.

“I’ve got something that belongs to you,” Peter said, handing Adrien the ring. “I didn’t use it though, didn’t even see your kwami.”

“No, he’s sleeping,” Adrien said, caressing his ring like it was his most prized possession. And it probably was. “I’m the worst partner ever. You needed me and I wasn’t there. You and Ladybug must be so mad at me.”

“Ladybug wasn’t there either,” Peter said honestly. “It’s Friday, people are busy, sometimes there are things more important than akuma fighting, and that’s why you have a team. If someone’s having an off day, I’m here to pick up the slack, that’s what I do. I feel bad for Peter Parker though. He had to go into work on his off day since I had to suit up. That must suck.” Why not establish an alibi while he was at it? He felt bad for guilt tripping Adrien, but only a teensy bit. Peter needed to keep his identity secure. It was bad enough he’d left the party with no explanation.

“And I ruined it for Peter too? Oh god,” Adrien smacked his forehead. “Adrien Agreste, you are one sorry, pathetic boy.”

“Adrien,” Spiderman pulled Adrien’s hand back before he could inflict another painful blow to his own head. “Stop. Blaming. Yourself. You don’t need to beat yourself up over this. You had fun, that’s what counts. Doubt you’ll be able to remember much, though. You and your friends are lightweights.”

“You’re not wrong there,” Adrien said, pulling his sorry self up off the ground. “Guess it’s time to head on to bed, then.”

“Let me help you,” Peter offered, looking at Adrien’s unsteady form. “Just latch on.” Adrien gripped onto Peter, who shot a web up to attach to the roof, swinging Adrien back to his room.

“Thanks for everything, Spidey.”

“No problem Agreste. Go to bed now, cuz something tells me that tomorrow morning isn’t going to be pleasant for you.”

“Probably not,” Adrien shrugged as Peter zipped back out into the night. Once he was certain Adrien’s eyes couldn’t follow him, he landed right outside the front doorstep, suit crawling back into his necklace as he slipped through the still-open door, shutting it carefully behind him. Adrien had taken up post on the couch when Peter returned, so he dragged his own bundle of blankets from his room, creating a little cocoon to sleep in.

“Peter?” Adrien’s eyes opened slightly as Peter settled on the floor near the head of the couch. He would’ve slept right on the floor beside the couch, but that spot had been taken by Marinette.

“Sorry, I had work stuff,” Peter whispered. “Go to sleep Golden Boy.” Adrien gave an airy laugh before his eyes fluttered shut again, breathing becoming more rhythmic.

The whole ordeal had been a very risky stunt on Peter’s part, but it had paid off. His identity was secure as ever, the Papillon had been psyched out, and his friends had been able to enjoy their evening of festivities without worrying about akumas.

However, unbeknownst to Peter, someone had been watching him throughout the night. A short little man had watched him with the Papillon, and seen him detransform outside the Agreste mansion. And the aforementioned man was feeling very confident in his choice of recipient of the phoenix miraculous. Very confident indeed.

* * *

Marinette awoke to the sound of rain, a throbbing headache, and a warm body pressed up against her. Her memory of the previous night was foggy, with flashes of the dance, dancing with Adrien, wearing his jacket, going to his house for a sleepover, something about Spiderman? That train of thought came to an abrupt halt as she turned her head slightly, only to see a blond head snuggled into her shoulder, a tanned arm thrown casually across her midsection. _Adrien Agreste_ was snuggling up to her, fast asleep, in his _bedroom_. It took every ounce of her willpower not to scream.

Alya and Nino were both still asleep, but she could see Peter already up, doing pushups a few feet away. He made them look ridiculously easy, and his white t-shirt showed off his arm muscles as he lowered himself to the floor and back up again. Marinette could see why Master Fu thought of him as a worthy wielder of the phoenix miraculous. He had that ‘physically strong’ bit down.

All this thinking was worsening her headache, Marinette decided. Instead she focused her attention on the boy beside her. He definitely hadn’t been sleeping there when she’d chosen her spot, she knew that much. His blankets were still half on the couch, so the obvious conclusion was that he’d fallen off it in his sleep. But the fantastical conclusion that Marinette’s mind indulged was one of him becoming lonely and seeking her company. The thought made her smile, and she ran her fingers through his hair absentmindedly, a habit she usually reserved for Chat Noir. A still half-asleep Adrien made a sound of content, burying himself further into her neck.

Peter stood up, having apparently finished his morning workout, eyes flickering over to the group. When he saw she was awake, he quickly mouthed something to her. _‘I’m going to get breakfast.’_

Marinette mouthed a quick _‘okay’_ in return, and he carefully slipped out Adrien’s bedroom door. Within no time, Peter was back with fresh coffee, pastries Marinette recognized being from her parents’ shop, and Gatorade (oddly enough). She had no idea how he’d managed to get it all that quickly, but she didn’t question it.

His movements seemed to cause the other sleeping bodies to stir, Nino waking up silently while Alya made an exaggerated whine, stretching out. Her noisiness woke Adrien up, who let out a little hum, raising his head (much to Marinette’s displeasure), and rubbing his eyes.

“Uh, hi,” he said, voice soft. He was so unfairly perfect in the morning, hungover or not, it was definitely a sight Marinette could never get tired of.

“Hey,” she croaked, instantly wanting to _die_.

“I really hope I didn’t crush you in my sleep, looks like I fell right on off the couch, huh?” Adrien laughed awkwardly. “And then it looks like I totally invaded your personal space, really sorry.”

“No, it’s okay, you can crush me anytime,” Marinette said with a smile, unaware of any connotations her words might have held.

“I’d make a comment about that but I’m really fucking hungover right now,” Alya said from her spot on the floor. “And I smell coffee. Peter, you angel, what did you do.”

Peter looked over at her, unimpressed. “You snore. A lot. But I brought breakfast for everyone, pastries fresh from the Dupain-Cheng bakery, some piping hot coffee, and Gatorade, which google says helps with hangovers. So drink up.” He distributed the food, the tired teens’ hands grabbing it eagerly.

Marinette could barely focus on eating when Adrien was sitting _so damn close_ to her. It was like her brain had short circuited and she could only stare at him, his blond hair sticking up at odd angles after sleeping with gel in it, looking like a bedraggled god. 

“Peter, I never would have pegged you as a mom friend,” Nino commented. “Not that I’m complaining, just at first glance, that’s totally not what I would’ve gone for.”

“For the sake of my own ego, I will not be asking what you’d originally peg me as,” Peter chuckled. “Also sorry for dipping on the party last night, I had to do ground control for Spiderman.”

“There was an akuma attack?” Marinette squeaked, nearly knocking her Gatorade over. Adrien caught it nimbly, handing it back to her. There had been an akuma attack and she, Ladybug, hadn’t been there. So why wasn’t Paris destroyed by now? There wasn’t any way to purify an akuma without her.

“Yeah,” Peter said. “According to Spiderman, neither Ladybug or Chat Noir showed. I guess they were both busy with other things. But he looked like he’d been mixed with Ladybug. I mean his suit definitely wasn’t normal. But I can’t really say anything more.”

“What?” Marinette’s hand flew up to grasp her earring instinctively. It was still there. So how on earth had Spiderman managed to pull it off? Unless he’d tied the akumatized person up somewhere, she didn’t see how he could have made it work. Either way, she had some serious apologizing to do to Spiderman.

“There’s no pictures online,” Alya said, setting her phone down with a sigh of disappointment. “The Papillon doesn’t usually choose to attack that late at night. There must not have been much of a fight.”

Marinette pondered the different scenarios throughout breakfast, and none of them seemed promising. How had Spiderman managed it?

As soon as she got home, headache feeling much less debilitating after finishing her Gatorade, Marinette pulled out her Ladybug phone, sending off a group text.

[ Can we up patrol to midday? ]

[ I think we need to talk ]

 **[ Sure ]** Came Spidey’s reply, instantly. Marinette wondered who was behind the mask and what he did on a daily basis. Was he always suited up? Probably not. But it seemed like he was always in the right place at the right time or simply just hanging around. Maybe his senses were really good in ways that transcended the physical. She knew he was impossible to sneak up on, but now Marinette wondered if that was him or Peter on ‘ground control’ warning him of his surroundings.

Chat Noir sent a single thumbs-up emoji. Marinette hadn’t been too surprised to hear that he hadn’t been in attendance either, since he was significantly more flaky than Marinette, but lately he had been doing better. She’d manage to gather that his civilian life was difficult to get away from when duty called, which she understood, but she also wanted him to try harder sometimes.

So at eleven fifty-eight precisely, Ladybug landed on their usual rooftop, eyes peeled for flashes of red or black along the skyline. She hadn’t been looking long when Spiderman landed a few feet away, eyes slowly raising to look at her. Chat Noir wasn’t far behind, sailing over Spidey’s head and landing with a thud. The rain had mostly let up and now it was just a gentle mist with mild temperatures, painting Paris’s usually picturesque streets in dull hues. It matched the mood of the three heroes’ meeting.

“I take it this isn’t so much of a patrol,” Spiderman guessed correctly. “Let’s find somewhere more secluded.”

And that’s how they found themselves a few minutes later, sitting atop L’Arc de Triomphe. It wasn’t secluded, per say, but it was high up enough that most people couldn’t see them.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” Ladybug started, sitting down. Chat also sat, but Spidey stayed standing, something that didn’t calm her nerves. Spiderman was a powerful ally and a more powerful enemy. She didn’t want to be on his bad side. “You needed us, and we weren’t there. And that’s unacceptable.”

Spiderman’s suit did an exaggerated blink. “I thought this was going to be me apologizing to you guys for taking your miraculous.”

“You did what?” Ladybug said. Of all the things he could’ve said, she hadn’t thought _that_ was what he would have settled on.

“You took hers too?” Chat said. “I thought you seemed a little different-looking, but it was difficult to tell.”

“I don’t remember that at all…,” Marinette said, racking the few fuzzy memories she had of the night.

“Well, I needed the Ladybug miraculous to purify the akuma,” Spiderman explained. “But here’s the weird thing, the Papillon said that when you combine the two, you get like, godlike power. And that’s why he wants it!”

“You _talked to the Papillon_?” Marinette couldn’t help the way her voice pitched up.

“He was out in the street?” Chat Noir looked just as disbelieving as her.

“No, I just asked to talk to him,” Spiderman shrugged, pacing in front of them. “We had a fun little bonding moment, I told him he needed therapy, then I grabbed the akumatized object and broke it cuz he was getting a little annoying. Also good thing I have super strength cuz afterwards when I was tryna get that lucky charm thing, it tried to drop a streetlight on my head. Not very fun.”

Ladybug didn’t know what to say. She was just gaping at him, mind gone completely blank. He had talked to the Papillon? And the Papillon had talked back?

“So was there any fight, like, at all?” Chat Noir, never one to be left speechless, piped up.

“Nah, it was just a quick thing,” Spiderman said. “He was distracted, couldn’t give the akuma orders and talk through them at the same time.”

“Well I’m glad it worked out,” Ladybug said. “Is that really all the Papillon said?”

“Here, let me show you,” Spiderman said, holding out his wrist. A projection popped out, showing what he saw that night. A dark street by the water, an akumatized teenage boy with a balloon, Spiderman’s unwavering confidence as he asked to speak to the Papillon. The Papillon actually speaking back. It was unheard of, unthought of by her and Chat Noir. Spiderman’s natural sense of humour, even in the face of danger was something she’d only seen in her longtime partner. Although Spidey’s lines seemed far more natural than Chat’s. Chat hid his emotions beneath jokes. Spiderman had nothing to hide. There was no fear in the way he addressed the Papillon, no concern as he turned down unlimited power. Spiderman was the hero Ladybug wished she was.

 _Does he have that confidence in real life?_ She wondered as the projection ended.

“Damn, that was ballsy,” Chat Noir said. “I’m sad I missed it.”

“Next time, kitty cat,” Spidey seemed unconcerned. “Hopefully next time the Papillon will send an actual challenge our way. These meaningless akumatizations are annoying.”

“Someone’s asking for trouble.” Chat stood, leaning against his baton with a grin. “I approve.”

“I think we should try and avoid provoking supervillains, at least for now,” Marinette suggested. She wasn’t ready to face the Papillon, not in the slightest. Spiderman may have no fear, but she was plenty afraid.

“Why wait, My Lady?” Chat purred. “The sooner he shows himself, the sooner we can figure out how to beat him.”

“Chat’s right.” Spidey knelt beside her, his suit’s eyes looking at her earnestly. “For once we might have the upper hand.” Something about Spiderman always coaxed the truth out of her, whether she wanted to or not. She always had to be honest around him because she couldn’t help but think that if she lied, he’d know. And he probably would. She didn’t know what he was capable of. So the truth it was.

“Because I’m scared!” Marinette couldn’t stop the outburst that flew out of her mouth. “I’m scared the Papillon will hurt my family, or my friends, or one of you.” She couldn’t look at them so she drew her knees up to her chest, burying her head into her makeshift cocoon.

“You’d be stupid not to be,” Spiderman sat down fully, stretching his legs out in front of him. “That’s part of our life. We’re always going to be scared. Tomorrow isn’t something that’s promised. Superheroes sacrifice all their tomorrows so that everyone else might have one more today. Fear is why you are brave.”

Chat Noir’s cocky smile was gone as he sat on her other side, placing an arm around her shoulders gently. “I’m scared too,” he admitted. “I have been, ever since I became Chat Noir and even before that. I’m scared I’m going to put you in danger, or let you down somehow. Losing you scares me far more than the Papillon ever could. And until we defeat him, there’s always going to be that fear that one day I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone somewhere I can’t follow.”

“And I’m scared that one day I’m not going to be able to save the day,” Spidey said. “We’ve all got our fears, and talking about them is the first step to getting over them. But we’re all stronger than we think we are. Because if it gets to be too much for you, that’s when you turn to us. Nothing you go through needs to be dealt with alone.”

“Why are you so wise all the time?” Ladybug let out a shaky laugh.

“It’s because I’ve been down this road before. I didn’t really have the same support system you do, so I was a literal disaster, to the point where I got my suit taken away. Which sucked, but it made me realize that this isn’t really all about being Spiderman. Spiderman is only as strong as the person beneath the suit. Same with Ladybug and Chat Noir. I know you guys might think that you’re nothing without the suit, but as soon as you get over that mentality, that’s when the fun stuff begins. So my advice to prepare for fighting the Papillon would be to figure your shit out.”

Chat laughed, nodding his head. “I really do need to figure it out.”

“Figure it out how?” Marinette couldn’t help but feel like there was something she was missing.

“What makes you Ladybug? Figure that out, and then you’ll realize why it’s not just the miraculous,” Spiderman said, getting up and dusting himself off. “Cuz I’ve tried it, and it doesn’t do that much. You just need to learn how to merge your personal life with your superhero one. Now that’s a lot to throw at you at once, so I’ll leave you to ponder that. I have an artistic endeavour I should be working on right now. Surprise! Spiderman has hobbies outside of being Spiderman.” And then he was gone, leaving Chat and Ladybug alone.

“So let me get this straight,” Marinette said. “Spiderman was the most powerful person in the universe for approximately thirty minutes and he somehow didn’t destroy the world?”

“Crazy, I know,” Chat stretched, removing his arm from her shoulders. The loss of contact was depressing, like he’d removed a warm blanket from her, akin to how she’d felt when Adrien had finally woken up that morning. No, this was Chat she was thinking about. Marinette had just had an absolute dream of a night with Adrien, she couldn’t be thinking about Chat like that. He was her partner. So she ignored her brain and plowed on, ranting to Chat.

“I can’t help but feel like I’m underestimating him constantly. Spiderman seems way smarter than he’s letting on, and he’s letting on a _lot_.” Ladybug was trying to trust him, she really was, but the only part of him she’d ever actually seen was his mouth, and that was when he was eating bread. She didn’t even know the colour of his hair. She found her own lack of context disturbing.

“That’s because we are underestimating him. He could probably take down the Papillon on his own, miraculous or not. But there’s got to be something that’s holding him back. No one is that perfect.” Chat Noir gave her his most mischievous grin. “Except for you, My Lady.”

“And that’s my cue to leave,” Ladybug decided, leaping to her feet and grabbing her yoyo. “Bye Chat.” It wasn’t so much because of his actions, but more because of her Adrien-betraying thoughts toward him. Not that her and Adrien were together in the slightest. But she still wasn’t about to throw her years of pining out the window for some alley cat.

“I know that you’re not leaving because of my words,” Chat leaned forwards, eyes glinting. “It’s because you don’t trust yourself to keep your hands off me.”

“Keep talking, and the only place my hands are going to be is in your face. While I’m punching you.” It definitely wasn’t her finest line, but she was growing more and more flustered by the second.

“Bye Buginette,” Chat lilted. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

 _Stupid dumb cat,_ Marinette cursed in her head as she swung home. Forget Chat, she had more important things to think about.

“Tikki!” Marinette shrieked the second she’d detransformed. “You transformed Spiderman and you didn’t tell me?”

“I thought you knew,” Tikki stated simply, coming to rest on Marinette’s desk.

“No! I mean, I might’ve then, but not now!”

“Speaking of which, Marinette, I hope you’re not going to make a habit of neglecting your responsibilities,” Tikki folded her little arms, giving Marinette what the kwami probably thought was a very intimidating look. Really it was adorable, and it made Marinette feel terrible.

“I made a mistake. I’m not going to make it again,” Marinette apologized.

“That’s what Spiderman said too.”

“What’s he like? What does he look like? Do I know him? Probably not,” Marinette spun in her desk chair before placing her elbows on her desk and resting her head in her palms, staring at Tikki expectantly.

“I don’t know!” She said. “All I saw were his ears!”

“His ears?”

“He figured out he could mix his transformations, so he detransformed out of his suit just before I transformed him, so I didn’t see anything, and then he reactivated his suit so we’d mix! He’s really smart.”

“I can tell he’s smart,” Marinette sighed. “So he must have pierced ears, then?”

Tikki shook her head. “He pierced them on the spot.”

Marinette let out a hiss at the thought. That would not have been fun, and she really really hoped he’d cleaned them before putting them back in her ears. Although he probably hadn’t. So she took the opportunity to do that then.

“Did he want to give the miraculous back? Or did you have to fight him on it?”

“I didn’t even have to say anything,” Tikki said. “He brought it up and I don’t think keeping them ever crossed his mind.”

“Really?” Marinette mused, brushing a cotton swab behind her ear. “I wish Chloé, sorry, _Queen Bee_ could be more like him.”

Tikki’s response was cut off by a tap at Marinette’s skylight. The tiny kwami disappeared up to Marinette’s loft, leaving Marinette to face her visitor alone.

“Yes?” Marinette called and a gloved hand creaked the glass door open, Chat Noir’s face appearing at the opening.

“Princess! Just who I wanted to see,” he said, letting himself in and dropping onto her bed. “I’m dreadfully bored, and my two friends are both too busy to hang out.”

“So you just moseyed on over to my house?” Marinette hadn’t moved from her desk chair as he descended the steps.

“Well you don’t look like you’re doing _anything_.”

“I’ll have you know I’m actually very busy doing homework,” Marinette lied. Chat was now standing in front of her and all her thoughts from earlier, all her traitorous ones, were back in her mind like they’d never left.

“You’re lying!” Chat singsonged. “You just don’t want to hang out with me. And I don’t see why that is, because I’m great.”

“I do want to hang out with you, Chat, it’s just-”

“Aha! So you do want to hang out,” he skipped back across her room, hanging upside-down off the railing to her loft. “So what’s all this unnecessary hesitation for?”

 _Because you’re a prat,_ Marinette thought. Out loud, she said, “I’m just not sure I’m as much entertainment as you seem to think I am.”

“Why of course you are, Princess! I could watch you sew all day! What are we making today?”

“Nothing. I’ve been having a bit of a slump lately, at least when it comes to sewing. I haven’t had any real inspiration.”

“I can be your inspiration!” Chat, who had been swinging from his hanging place, swung a little too enthusiastically and fell, landing on her floor with a bang.

“Can you keep it down? My parents live with me.” The last thing Marinette wanted was for her parents to come upstairs and find Chat Noir in her bedroom.

“Well I’m handsome and inspiring, I’ve been told, so perhaps I could be your muse.” Chat got up from his crumpled position, slowly walking back over to Marinette. She swallowed a little too hard at the way his eyes stayed trained on her.

“Whoever told you that was clearly not right in the head,” she managed a semi-convincing snort, getting up from her desk chair and heading over to her chaise lounge, sitting down on it next to her purse, just in case she needed to ask Alya to come chase Chat off.

“And yet you move somewhere just so I can sit down right next to you. How considerate.” Chat joined her on the lounge, sitting a little closer to her than necessary.

“Did you come here to hang out or to flirt,” Marinette sighed. Did he really not get it out of his system while he’d been with Ladybug?

“Actually I came here because I’m starving but I haven’t got any money, and I hoped the baker’s daughter would take pity on a poor kitty and give him some free food.” He gave her a wide smile that somehow managed to show off all his teeth. And goddamn if they weren’t some of the most perfect teeth she’d ever seen.

 _Where did_ that _thought come from?_ Marinette scolded herself as she went to sneak some pastries. She really couldn’t afford to keep thinking about Chat Noir like that. He was her partner, and she was in love with Adrien! Only, Chat Noir also had blond hair, green eyes, and she was now struggling to actually talk to him, which meant that she obviously had a type. Not intentionally of course. But if she kept thinking about his _teeth_ she was going to have to seriously rethink some of her life choices.

“Here you go,” she said a little more forcefully than necessary as she returned to her room, shoving croissants in Chat’s arms. “Is that what you wanted?”

“Uh, are you alright?” Chat asked, quickly chowing down on the croissants like he was scared they would disappear.

“Oh, I’m just stellar! Perfect, some might say!” Marinette threw her arms out, flopping back down on the lounge beside him. “Doing great over here! Marinette Dupain-Cheng is just doing absolutely fantastic.”

Chat stared at her blankly as he polished off the croissants, having wolfed them down with alarming speed. “Okay then. Well now that I don’t think I’m about to pass out from hunger, what do you want to do?”

“We can’t exactly hit the town,” Marinette pointed out as she laid down, stretching out with a popping of her spine. “Not when you’re a superhero.”

“Correct,” Chat said. “So I guess we’ll just have to stay here in your bedroom.”

That statement really shouldn’t have seemed as suggestive to Marinette as it did. Chat was simply stating the facts, yet her brain was spiralling it out of proportion. She was blushing before she could stop herself, Chat’s eyes still searching her face as he sat above her.

“You’re in a weird mood today, how about that, Princess? Are my charms just too much to handle?”

“Who cares what I think? They obviously don’t work on Ladybug,” Marinette snarked. She wanted him _gone_ at this point, before she did something stupid. To her surprise, Chat didn’t get annoyed by her statement.

“Oh no, they work on her, she just doesn’t know it. But one day, she’ll see that I’m so unworthy of her, she’ll have to take pity on me. That’s just how it works, I’m pretty sure.”

“Pity? You don’t think she’ll fall for you on her own?”

“I was just kidding,” Chat shrugged. “She’s in love with someone else. If I knew who that ‘someone’ was, maybe I’d take him out, then she’d realize I’m the one she likes, but I’m not a supervillain and I don’t know who he is. But either way, he’s a lucky guy. I hope he realizes just how special she is.”

Marinette sat up suddenly, mouth hanging open at her sudden epiphany. Chat was right. Adrien saw her as a friend. Just a friend. She’d tried so hard to change that, but why? Why would she try and change that when someone who loved her as her most genuine self was right there? And before she could even think through the details, she was wrapping her arms around Chat Noir’s neck and kissing him.

And he was kissing her back for a really solid three seconds until they both remembered who she was. She was Marinette, not Ladybug. And with that realization, they both pulled back.

“Sorry,” Marinette mumbled. “I got a little, uh, carried away there.”

Chat was just staring at her, dumbfounded. “I’ve never had a girl kiss me while I was in the middle of lamenting about how in love I was with someone else. That’s a new one.”

“I meant to say I hope she realizes how great you are too, but I got a little confused.”

“You got confused and…kissed me?”

“Yes, that’s precisely what happened,” Marinette said, ignoring her raging blush and desire to kiss him again.

“Hmm, I’ll take your word for it, since I have no other way to interpret that.” Chat looked bewildered, sitting as still as possible.

“Do you want to go?” Marinette suggested.

“Do you want me to go?”

“Not particularly, but I also just kinda messed the vibes up.”

“We can work with the new vibes,” Chat assured her. “But, uh, I might have to friend-zone you a little bit.”

“Not if I friend-zone you first,” Marinette chirped in response, but her mind was already churning, thinking about how she could possibly work around the new realization that maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir were a little more than just partners. Maybe the move wasn’t to work around it, but to face it head on. What was it Spiderman had said? If she was afraid of something, she just needed to work through it, talk it through with someone. And right now she was downright terrified of how she felt about Chat Noir.

He stayed for another hour or two until her parents were calling her for dinner, so Marinette slipped downstairs, waving goodbye to her partner as she grabbed her superhero phone, shooting a text off to Spidey.

[ Can we talk tonight? I could really use some advice ]

His reply was instantaneous as always.

**[ Unfortunately I’ve got something I need to take care of ]**

**[ Can I send Peter Parker in my place ]**

**[ He’s a good listener and he’s smarter than me most of the time ]**

**[ I take it this isn’t something you can talk to Chat or Alya about ]**

[ You’re aware I know Peter in real life, right? ]

**[ Does that make a difference ]**

[ No, I guess not. Just tell him to meet me at the park in twenty, if he can ]

**[ He’ll be there ]**

[ Thanks Spidey ]

**[ As always, Miss Ladybug ]**

**[ Sorry it couldn’t be me ]**

[ No worries ] The fact that Spiderman had found her a solution spoke volumes about his character. Even if he couldn’t be there, he still made sure that she had someone trustworthy to talk to. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too much work for Peter.

“Tikki, I’m sorry, but I’ll need to suit up again,” Marinette apologized to her kwami as she fed her a macaron.

“It’s fine! You need to work out your feelings for Chat Noir!” Tikki seemed excited. It was rather obvious that she’d been Team Chat this whole time, despite the boy’s reckless nature. So Marinette was suited up in no time, slipping out through the skylight and swinging off her balcony.

Peter was already sitting in the park, listening to music through his headphones when Ladybug approached him.

“Peter Parker?” She ventured. It was her first time interacting with him in costume, so she decided to throw everything she knew about him out the window and pretend this was the first time they’d ever met.

“Ladybug!” He whipped his earbuds out, stowing them back in his pocket within a blink of an eye. “I swear I’m not on drugs.”

Marinette tilted her head. She had a feeling there was a story behind that, but she chose not comment, instead taking a seat next to him on the bench. “Spidey said you were available to talk? Sorry if this is weird, I just needed to talk to someone about something.”

“No problem,” Peter said, ever the sweetest. “I’m here to listen to whatever it is you’ve got on your mind. My pretty singular friend Adrien is busy this evening, so I was just sitting at home when Spiderman texted me.”

“Well I’m glad you were around,” Marinette gave him a small smile and he returned it with a massive one. Sweet Peter with his sweet smile. It only made her dread the inevitable day when she would have to give him that blasted miraculous that may or may not kill him.

“So what are we talking about? Boy troubles?” His carefree and cheerful attitude was infectious and Marinette felt herself relaxing already. 

“Sort of,” she rolled her eyes. “So basically, there was one boy that I’ve liked forever, but now there’s another boy who’s…well, he’s liked _me_ forever. And before I could never think of him like that, but now all of a sudden it’s like someone flipped a switch in my brain and boom! He’s infected it. He’s like the plague.”

“Okay,” Peter said slowly. “Would it be incorrect to assume that the boy who’s liked you is Chat Noir?”

Marinette bit back a grin. The boy was smart, she’d have to hand him that. “That wouldn’t be entirely incorrect, no. But today I realized, I never even really talk to the boy I’ve liked. He’s always seen me as just a friend, but I’m always tongue-tied around him. So even if he did like me back, would he even be liking me for me?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Peter contemplated.

“But then things with him were going really well lately! Like we’ve been hanging out a bit and I’ve started being able to talk to him and whatever, but with Chat everything’s always been so natural. But I worry sometimes that he’d only like me for Ladybug, not who I am when the costume comes off.”

“So what I’m hearing is you don’t think either of them know you well enough.”

“…yeah.”

“Well I’m assuming Ladybug is the most genuine version of yourself?”

“I’m pretty sure. I mean, it’s definitely not who I am around A- the other guy.” She caught herself before his name could slip out. Peter would surely catch on if she told him she liked Adrien.

“And so Chat Noir likes you when you’re Ladybug, but the other guy wouldn’t?”

“No, he might like me if I was more like Ladybug around him, but I can’t! My sentences just get all mixed up and then I just…ugh.” Marinette slumped over in a very un-Ladybug way. “I wish they could just be the same person or something. That would make things way easier.”

Peter said something in English she couldn’t translate. Something about an idiot?

“Idiot?” She asked, tilting her head. He waved her off.

“Sorry, I was just going to say something but I’m not sure if it would come out right in French.” He laughed, one foot tapping against the ground. He seemed to have a lot of energy like, all the time.

“It’s all good,” Marinette said. “I just have no idea what to do.”

“It sounds like you have a better chance with Chat Noir, not going to lie,” Peter said. “I’m sure the other guy is great, since you obviously like him and have for some time, but maybe it would be better if you two are friends. If you were dating Chat Noir, I assume that would mean you would be less…emotionally invested in the other guy, and then you and the other guy could actually become friends. And if I’m being completely candid, I can see you and Chat Noir being a really good couple.”

“Really?” Marinette could see the truth in his words. Maybe being with Chat Noir would bring her and Adrien closer in the long run.

“Yeah, Ladybug, you’re like That Bitch. You’re a badass. Chat Noir respects that, I can tell.”

“Thank…you? Is that a compliment in America?”

“That’s a compliment anywhere,” Peter assured her. “Everyone wants to be you, everyone wants to be with you, people hate you cuz they’re not you, you’re That Bitch.”

“Everyone wants to be with me? That can’t be right,” Marinette shook her head. “Even you, Peter?”

“Sorry, I’m married to my job,” he said casually. “And something tells me you don’t date married men.”

“Correct there,” Marinette laughed. “Thanks Peter, I really needed that.”

“So you’re going to tell Chat Noir how you feel, right?”

“Tell him? Now where’s the fun in that. I think I’ll make him guess.” Marinette gave him a sly smile.

“From what I’ve heard, that boy is thick. You’re going to have to spell it out for him,” Peter said.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Marinette said. “Chat Noir is fluent in flirting.”

“He might not recognize your accent,” Peter gave her an equally sly grin. “Anything else I can help you with, Ladybug?”

 _Yes but it might kill you,_ Marinette felt her grin slip off her face as she looked at Peter’s earnest brown eyes. Her yoyo felt like it was burning against her side, the phoenix miraculous hidden somewhere inside it.

“Ladybug? Are you okay?”

“You’re a really good person, Peter,” she choked out, trying to stop her eyes from tearing up. “You don’t deserve anything bad, ever.” If he was concerned about her sudden change in demeanour, he didn’t show it.

“Little late for that,” Peter shrugged. “But thank you. I think the world could always use more good people, someone to look out for the little guy, you know?”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m really glad I got to talk to you.” She stood up, uncertain of how long she could hold tears back for. Even if giving him the phoenix miraculous wasn’t a guaranteed death sentence, she still didn’t want to risk it. Because she knew Peter would accept it, that he would try to wield it no matter the risks. Because he was a good person who wanted to help others.

“Me too,” Peter said, giving her a quick hug. “And for what it’s worth, Ladybug, I think you’re a really good person too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y’all enjoyed the Adrinette while it lasted because from here on out things are going to get a little bit...Ladynoir-y. Also I had to include some Marichat because I’m the worst :) 
> 
> Next update should be coming soon, thanks so much for all the love so far <3
> 
> Remember kids don’t drink and fight crime at the same time


	7. Tu Ne Peux Pas Frapper Ce Cheval Mort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The promised Ladynoir :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially the first chapter that’s taken longer to edit than it did to write. Something about writing Adrien’s POV just takes me forever to get to a point where I’m actually happy with it. That being said, he’s such a fun character and I love him to death 
> 
> As always, you can see sketches I’ve done here: https://pin.it/3fCZBTl  
> This week’s was a quick Adrien/Peter comic (read: an excuse to draw Adrien like three times)

Adrien stared at Peter, then back at the framed image, then back at Peter. Peter rocked forwards on the balls of his feet, obviously waiting for a response, but Adrien was too captivated by how beautiful the image was.

He had gotten back from hanging out with Marinette (as Chat Noir) only to be reminded via a text message from Nathalie that he had a photo shoot scheduled for that evening. It had been torture, and he’d returned to find Peter holding a photo frame containing one of the most perfect shots Adrien had ever seen, and he’d met plenty of famous photographers. It was of him and Marinette at the dance, her skirt flaring out as the two spun. Adrien had a real, genuine smile on his face, and Marinette’s features were captured in a silent laugh. The lights in the gym had illuminated them perfectly, accentuated by whatever filter Peter had put on the image, and it had the same look as a high quality dream.

“This is beautiful,” Adrien breathed. “How did you…?”

“I’ve dabbled in photography,” Peter said. “It was the perfect shot, I couldn’t miss. I thought you might want to remember the moment with your friends. So when you’re old and depressed you can tell your grandkids about how much fun it was.”

Adrien waited for a comment about how Marinette was ‘more than a friend’ but it didn’t come. Peter was respecting his wishes, something that shouldn’t have been shocking, yet Adrien wasn’t used to it, not from people he knew. But Peter was different than the people he’d grown up around. Peter treated him like a human being, rather than a dress-up doll.

Of course his alleged ‘friend’ had kissed him only a few hours ago, but Peter didn’t know that. Couldn’t know that. Even Marinette didn’t know it had been him.

“Thank you, Peter, really. I have so few pictures that weren’t planned and prepared for. No matter how expensive my other shoots have been, it’s the candid shots like this that are priceless.” He gave his friend a beaming smile.

“How could I resist when you’ve got that model look on twenty-four seven?” Peter rolled his eyes. “It’s like you just attract the perfect shot.”

“Thanks? I think?” Adrien said, sitting in his desk chair. It was late, but he didn’t care. Patrol had already happened and he’d had the evening off. The whole evening to think about that absolutely bizarre interaction he’d had with Marinette and the way Ladybug had acted towards the end of their time together that day. Something had been off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. And even after all his hours on pondering, it was no clearer than it had been before.

“I’m going to go to bed,” Peter said. “I’ve got work tomorrow.”

“Okay, goodnight!” Adrien waited until Peter had shut the door behind him before opening his jacket and letting Plagg fly out.

“All this kissing girls and no Camembert,” he lamented. “You could’ve at least asked her for some cheese while you were at it.”

“And what would I have done with said cheese? I was transformed and you’ve got plenty of cheese here,” Adrien said, kicking his mini fridge open as an invitation for his kwami to eat his heart out.

“Cheese would’ve kept you from sticking your tongue down her throat,” Plagg said, gripping onto a slice of cheese and taking a huge bite. “And making things more complicated for yourself.”

“I’d like to point out that at no point today did I stick my tongue down _anyone’s_ throat,” Adrien pointed a finger at the unconcerned kwami. “Plus, she kissed me. I just stood there.”

“But you enjoyed it,” Plagg said.

“Of course I enjoyed it! Marinette is my friend!”

“That’s it, you can’t be Chat Noir anymore. You’ve been dropped on your head one too many times.” Plagg eyed him. “I also love sucking my closest friends’ faces off. Are you even listening to yourself?”

“For the last time, she didn’t mean anything by it! She said so herself! She just got a little bit confused.”

The exasperated sigh that escaped Plagg’s mouth wasn’t a quiet one by any means. “Kid, I’ve been alive for a long time. I’ve heard every excuse in the book. But that? That’s a new one.”

“She’s…creative?” Adrien offered then let out a frustrated sigh of his own. “Listen Plagg, I don’t know. I’m just doing my best not to make it complicated. It’s bad enough I slept with her-”

“YOU SLEPT WITH HER?”

“Not like that!” Adrien held up both hands. “I fell off the couch and accidentally wound up snuggled next to her last night. I did not, and I repeat, did not sleep with her like that!”

“Good, because if you’re looking to avoid complications that’s not the way to go.”

“Yeah, I _know_. I also know Ladybug was acting weird today and while that’s usually a bad thing, it could be a good one this time around. What if she’s finally realized that she likes me?”

Plagg just stared at him with an unfriendly expression. “I am not feeding into your fantasies. If you wanted someone to talk about that stuff with, you should’ve been made Ladybug. Tikki is like a personal therapist.”

“I didn’t have much of a choice, now did I? And red doesn’t go with my eyes,” Adrien huffed. “Plus I have the feeling that Ladybug wouldn’t be as supportive of your cheese addiction as I am.”

“Whatever.” Plagg, indifferent, disappeared up to the loft as Adrien got ready for his shower. Adrien was so glad to have such a thoughtful, kind, understanding kwami who not only understood Adrien’s thoughts and feelings but also was willing to talk about them at any given moment. You know, in his dreams.

His stupid, treacherous brain kept drifting back to Marinette’s kiss as he stripped and climbed under the steaming water. The closer to hell’s geysers, the better in Adrien’s opinion. He knew he was just projecting his unresolved feelings for Ladybug onto the event, somehow making it about her which was entirely unfair to Marinette. It had been a good kiss, sure, nothing special, and yes Adrien had been into it for a few seconds at least, but there hadn’t exactly been fireworks. Not like if he’d kissed his Lady, that’s for sure. If she’d kissed him, it would’ve been like he was at Disney World, watching their fireworks show like he had when he was a kid.

Steam rolled out the bathroom door when Adrien exited, as red as a thoroughly cooked lobster.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” Plagg asked, descending from the loft to give his chosen a withering look.

Adrien adjusted the towel he’d wrapped around his waist. “No I’m not, I’ll have you know. Life has just gotten interesting. I have a friend now who, surprisingly, doesn’t bully me on a daily basis.”

“Bullying isn’t a one sided deal,” Plagg said, settling himself down on Adrien’s pillow. “It takes two to tango. If you’re being bullied, there’s usually a good reason why.”

“You see you can’t just say that,” Adrien sighed, pulling his pyjamas on. “That’s the sort of thing that makes people not like you.”

“Do I look like the sort to care about what other people think of me?”

“Yes, desperately so.”

“I could destroy this house with a swipe of my paw.”

“And risk destroying your precious Camembert? You would never.”

“Fine, I’ll let you live, only because you’re more valuable to me alive than dead,” Plagg squinted at him.

“How gracious,” Adrien flopped down on his bed. “Your mercy never comes to an end.”

“Not yet at least.” And that threat was the last thing Adrien heard before he fell asleep. His dreams that night featured, as always, Ladybug. He awoke feeling refreshed and in a perfect mood.

“What’s got you so happy?” Peter asked suspiciously at breakfast. “Did something happen that I don’t know about?”

“I just woke up on the right side of the bed this morning,” Adrien said. “I’m so happy to be alive.”

“Right.” Peter poured himself a glass of orange juice. “I have to go do work stuff this morning, so I’ll be out of the house. Then I might go commit a triple homicide, you never know, it just seems like the day for it, right Adrien?”

“Yeah,” Adrien sighed dreamily.

“Okay, now I really think I’m being left out of something,” Peter said, putting the pitcher down sharply.

“I just had a really, really good dream. I’m filled with hope for the day.” He could tell he was grinning like an idiot, but at this point he couldn’t do anything about it.

“Whenever I have a good dream, reality always seems like a disappointment afterwards,” Peter said. Adrien paid no mind to his friend’s less-than-chipper attitude. Work always put a damper on one’s day, no matter how much they loved their job, Adrien knew.

“If you’re at work, does that mean Spiderman is going to be swinging about?” Adrien asked, taking a hearty bite of oatmeal.

“Not necessarily, I do other things too, but today he’s agreed to do an interview with the Ladyblog so I have to supervise that. He’s most likely going to regret it, but since it’s Alya, I agreed to ask him to do the interview in the first place. He said yes, so now they’re having a little session. Alya really seems to want to get all the details on his personal life, but I think she’ll be disappointed to learn that being Spiderman _is_ his personal life.” With that, Peter stood up, and Adrien held out a hand to stop him, eyes having just landed on what he’d previously thought to be a plain white tee.

“Peter, what. The. _Hell,_ ” Adrien emphasized. “Is that.” Peter’s shirt was a special brand of horrendous.

“Oh? You like it? I bought it off a street vendor,” Peter said, stretching it out so Adrien could see the design unhindered. It had a horse with glasses photoshopped on and its tongue sticking out, but that wasn’t the worst part. Written above it, in English, was a singular phrase: ‘You can’t beat this dead horse!’.

“It’s horrible!”

“Yeah, I actually bought three. Sent one back home to my friend Ned, kept one for myself, and gave one to Mr. Stark.”

“You gave a t-shirt about beating dead horses to Iron Man?” Adrien’s voice cracked as he dramatically pinched the bridge of his nose. Suddenly, he felt a headache coming on. 

“He’s my boss. Gotta show appreciation somehow!” Peter said cheerily. “I’m sure he’ll love it. He’s got a weird sense of humour like that.”

Adrien gave him a look that he tried to make look supportive, but probably came across as disturbed. Peter didn’t seem to mind, mood significantly improved, he practically floated on up to his room, graceful as ever. And now Adrien had the entire morning to himself and nothing to do with it.

As desperately as he wanted to suit up and run around, hoping Ladybug would notice him and come hang out, he settled for a lesser option that was guaranteed results. Pulling out his superhero phone, he sent her a quick text.

[ good morning my lady ;) ] He didn’t have to wait long for her response, and as soon as it popped up on his screen the butterflies in the pit of his stomach started.

**[ Do you need something? ]**

[ I just wanted to talk to you ]

 **[ Chat… ]** Her typing bubble started and stopped multiple times over. It was stressing Adrien out.

[ my lady? ]

**[ What is there to talk about? ]**

Adrien pondered that one for a second. What was there to talk about? Nothing really. Just everything. He wanted to tell her every single mundane experience of his life and to hear about hers in return. To not have to worry about secret identities, just to share each other’s company. Was that really too much to ask?

[ anything you want ]

[ how is your day going ]

**[ Well I just panicked thinking there was an akuma attack ]**

**[ But it turns out it’s just my partner texting me ‘good morning’ ]**

[ you know you love me ] Adrien attached a heart-eyed cat emoji, grinning as he did so.

**[ Do I really now? ]**

**[ Other than that, my day is pretty slow ]**

**[ I’m just helping my parents with some chores ]** Adrien gobbled up that little tidbit. Of course Ladybug was helping her parents. She was always so helpful and considerate. He typed his next response as he headed up the stairs back to his room, sitting up on his bed, hunched over his phone like a seagull over a stray fry.

[ that sounds fun ]

**[ Not really ]**

**[ What are you doing alley cat? ]**

[ lamenting the fact that you’re not here right now ]

[ home alone ]

**[ I’m surprised you haven’t burnt the house down yet ]**

[ give me time, it’s only nine am ]

**[ I’m also surprised you’re not suited up and running around town ]**

**[ I thought that was what you did every single time you had more than ten minutes of free time ]** Adrien smiled. She knew him so well.

[ well I thought I could run around and hope you’d see and come outside… ]

[… or I could just text you and be on your mind instantly ]

**[ Who says you weren’t already on my mind? ]**

Adrien’s brain shut down instantly. Was she…flirting with him? That couldn’t have just been a harmless comment, could it? Now he was seriously perplexed. How did he respond?

[ well was I? ]

**[ Wouldn’t you like to know minou ]**

Okay this was definitely flirting and Adrien was panicking. He could spend all day dishing it out, but the second Ladybug gave him a taste of his own medicine he was left reeling.

[ I most definitely would like to know ]

[ because if my lady is thinking about me while I’m not there ]

[ I’d like to give her the real deal ]

**[ Ahah you’re cute ]**

**[ Don’t get a big head about it though ]**

[ new achievement unlocked: big head ] Adrien really didn’t mean to make a gaming pun but he was freaking out because _Ladybug was flirting with him_ and he couldn’t do anything about it because Spidey would be at patrol at night. And if Spidey was there, he couldn’t just go up and make out with her. That would be very rude.

Surely his alarm was going to go off soon. There was no way this was reality. He must’ve slept in, and his nightmare about Peter’s t-shirt had transformed into a lovely dream in which his Lady was finally returning his interests. And yet no alarm rang.

“Pinch me, Plagg, make sure I’m not dreaming,” he said. Obediently, his kwami zoomed out from where he’d been watching The Great British Bake Off, pummelling Adrien in the chest so hard it knocked him flat on his back.

“I said _pinch_ me not punch me!” Adrien complained. His annoyance was short-lived, however, as his phone vibrated as another text popped up on the screen, causing him to sit bolt-upright.

**[ Then that’s my cue to go ]**

**[ See you later chaton ]**

[ only nine more hours until I see your beautiful face again ]

**[ You’re lame ]**

Adrien stowed his phone away, unable to wipe the smile off his face. Even when faced with the stern glare his kwami was sporting.

“I’m not transforming you if you’re just going to go canoodle with Ladybug now. Chat Noir is a responsibility and a gift, not an opportunity to live out your hormone-fuelled teenage fantasies.” Plagg folded his tiny arms, hovering in front of Adrien’s head.

“Plagg, I’ve loved her since I laid eyes on her. Hormones are fleeting. This is real. It’s like…,” he struggled to find words the tiny deity would understand. “She’s my Camembert. I _want_ to stick my tongue down her throat and not in a friend way.”

Plagg looked thoroughly disgusted. “You just made your case worse for yourself, mister. ‘I want to stick my tongue down her throat’? What’s wrong with you?”

Adrien dragged a hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean that. Well I did, but I didn’t mean it like that. What do I have to say to make you understand?”

“Oh I understand plenty, I just think you’re an idiot.” At Plagg’s words, Adrien groaned, leaning back against his bed, resolving not to get up every again.

“Great talk.” He grabbed his pillow, covering his face. He needed a redo of the day. It had been going great until the little pest had decided it was Make Adrien Miserable day. And he would’ve moped for a little while longer had it not been for the loud crash in the next room.

“Peter?” Was he back already? As far as he was aware, Alya’s livestream hadn’t started.

“Iforgotsomethingit’sreallynothingdon’tworryaboutitI’llbegoneinasecond!” Peter yelled from his room, words all strung together. “Shit!”

It did not sound like nothing, but Adrien chose not to investigate. “You sure you good?”

“Jesus Christ! Don’t do that! Yeah, I’m fine, just some technical difficulties, I just decided I wanted a jacket!”

“Okay?” Adrien called back, throwing his pillow to the side and walking over to sit at his computer, opening the Ladyblog. Alya, in true Alya fashion, had a countdown to the start of the interview. A curious noise, almost like someone spitting violently, came from Peter’s room then all was silent once more. And the interview was starting.

“Welcome back to the Ladyblog!” Alya said cheerfully, looking at the camera. It seemed she’d booked a hotel room for the day at Le Grand Paris, where her mom worked as a chef. Adrien had no doubt that Nino was behind the camera, probably trying to get the perfect shot. He was the only one that could listen to her directions and not break from the stress of it all.

“Today we’ve got a special guest joining us,” Alya gestured and the camera followed her arm to look out the window, pointing at a red speck in the sky that seemed to be getting larger. And suddenly Spiderman was bursting into the room, landing perfectly, without even so much as a wobble.

“Alya!” He greeted her enthusiastically, giving her a quick hand shake.

“Thanks for joining us, Spidey, please take a seat,” Alya smiled, barely containing her excitement as Spiderman took a seat at the pink couch opposite her matching chair. “Where would you like to start today?”

Spiderman slung one arm across the back of the couch, exuding confidence and charisma. That’s how Adrien felt when he was Chat Noir. He most likely didn’t look it, though. Spiderman seemed to have a firm balance on his life, something Adrien could only envy.

“Wherever you want, Alya. I’m afraid I don’t have any groundbreaking relationship stuff going on, unfortunately. Usually that’s what interviewers go to as their first topic, so I’ll save you the effort of trying to build up to that.”

“Being a superhero doesn’t leave much time for that sort of thing, huh?” Alya jumped at the opportunity to delve further into Spidey’s personal life, but Adrien could tell Spiderman wasn’t bothered by it, instead leading the conversation down the path _he_ wanted it to go.

“Nope, afraid not. Some people manage to make it work, but it seems I’m just too busy being a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman to think about anything besides that.”

“By ‘some people’ do you mean Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

“Why? Are they in a relationship?” Spiderman leaned forwards like Alya was about to tell him some juicy gossip. “You can tell me, I can keep a secret.” He winked, as if to prove a point. That threw Alya for a bit of a loop. She’d obviously been trying to coax some sort of scoop about Adrien and Ladybug out of Spidey and he’d flipped it right back on her.

“So I take it you don’t hangout much?”

“Oh we hangout, I just don’t think they’d appreciate me making assumptions about their dynamic as a team,” Spiderman said bluntly, leaving Alya to blink at his consideration for his partners’ feelings. “But if you want to know what they’re like, I can tell you that they’re as nice as you think they are and more. They welcomed me to the team with barely any hesitation.”

“That’s good to hear,” Alya said. “Now Spiderman, let’s go back to what you said earlier about not having time for relationships. If you were to have a relationship, what would your ideal partner look like?”

 _Not Alya having a crush on Spidey,_ Adrien thought, but he could tell that’s where her brain was going. Spiderman was cool and he radiated good energy, really everyone had no choice but to be attracted to him whether it be in a friendly, magnetic way, or a less innocent manner.

“Tall,” Spidey said simply. Well, that crossed Alya off the list.

“Tall? That’s the only requirement?” Alya looked at him. “Well I’m sure I’ve got heels around here somewhere….”

Spiderman laughed. “What’s the next question?”

Adrien happily watched his two friends exchange friendly banter throughout the interview, all while counting down the time until patrol. By the time the interview was over he still had precisely seven hours and fifty-six minutes.

“You need a job,” Plagg snarked as Adrien checked the time for the fifth time that minute.

“I have a job, two if you count fighting evil,” Adrien reminded him, throwing an arm over his eyes and leaning back in his desk chair.

“I don’t, because I don’t think you’d be nearly as enthusiastic if fighting evil didn’t come with Ladybug attached.”

Adrien pouted at that. “You wound me.”

“Good.” Adrien could tell his kwami was sticking his tongue out at him. But a knock at the door caused Adrien to sit up as Plagg zipped inside his jacket.

“Come in.”

“Hey,” Peter peeked his head around the door before stepping into the room. “Work’s done.” He’d gotten back _fast_ but Adrien didn’t question it. Maybe he hitched a ride with Spiderman or something. Either way, Adrien’s brain had clocked out.

“Oh thank god. I need a distraction.”

“Long day, sorry, two hours?” Peter asked sarcastically, glancing at the still-open Ladyblog tab. “Was the interview any good?”

“Weren’t you watching?” Adrien replied, fiddling with his phone.

“Not exactly. Want to go hangout at the park?”

‘Yes’ was halfway out Adrien’s mouth before he reined himself in, remembering who he was. “I better not. I’ve already pushed it enough with my dad being away. There’s no way the Gorilla didn’t notice our little party-”

“I take no responsibility for the events that unfolded that night,” Peter interjected, holding his hands up.

“- _my_ little party, so it’ll be a blessing and a miracle if he doesn’t mention it to my dad. Otherwise you and me are dead, irregardless of how blameless you may be in this situation.”

“Lame,” Peter wrinkled his nose. “Your dad, not you.”

“He’s just a bit protective. I know in his heart he believes everything he’s doing for me is what’s best.”

“My aunt’s protective too, but she knows that I can handle myself,” Peter said. “It’s about boundaries. Your dad doesn’t understand that you’re not something that can be controlled.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Hello? Have you met me? Adrien Agreste, feel free to walk all over me, I’ll probably like you more if you do.” He held out a hand as if to shake Peter’s.

“Nah, I think you just pick your battles.” Maybe Peter was right. Maybe Adrien let his dad boss him around because he knew at night he could suit up and disappear off into the city. Chat Noir was his small relief from reality. And for that he was forever thankful. It was the one aspect of his life where he, Adrien, was in full control of his life and what happened. And tonight, boy oh boy was he going to make things happen.

Adrien was a nervous wreck by the time patrol came around. For someone who flirted shamelessly, he was definitely out of practice of being on the receiving end of someone’s affections. Especially if that someone was Ladybug. He wound up being twenty minutes early, Spidey arriving not too far behind him.

 _Right, Spidey,_ Adrien reminded himself. This was going to be patrol with Spiderman and Ladybug, two superheroes who he respected very much and one that he was also currently freaking out about seeing.

“Are you like, okay?” Spiderman asked. “You’re weirdly sweaty for such a chilly evening. I mean, that suit doesn’t look breathable, but I’ve never seen you so…that.” He waved an arm at Adrien whose panic mounted further.

“Yeah, I’m super fine. Super good. I’m totally not freaking out right now.” He nodded so fast he almost thought his neck was going to snap off.

“Take a deep breath,” Spidey advised. “Because I am definitely not up to date on my first aid training. Also this suit isn’t very good for giving mouth-to-mouth. I do, however, have defibrillator webs in case your heart stops.”

“How are you always so cool?” Adrien practically yelled at Spiderman, who took a step back, raising his arms in a ‘truce’ signal. “Sorry, I’m just really _not_ cool right now and I need to get on your level if I’m going to wind up actually getting somewhere tonight.”

“Ooh is something happening with Ladybug?” Spiderman said. “We’ve got time, tell me everything. But refrain from yelling, because that’s not very ‘cool’. Lesson one.”

And so Adrien did. Spidey listened attentively, not speaking until the very end of Adrien’s tale. “And she said I was cute!” His heart was so full just thinking about it, his anxiety leaving him as he thought about Ladybug and why he liked her so much. And he would’ve kept thinking along the same vein if it weren’t for the soft _ronron_ noise coming from his chest.

“Are you…purring?” Spidey tilted his head. “That’s kinda cool.”

“It’s kind of embarrassing,” Adrien admitted, doing his best to stop it. “It’s the equivalent of getting a hard-on right before you have to present in class.”

“Okay but I’d argue that purring is considerably more adorable than a stiffer,” Spiderman was flicking a canister of sorts between his fingers, one of the ones that usually hung from his belt.

“Do you have any spider mannerisms?” Adrien deflected, really wanting to stop thinking about his stupid purring in hopes that it would die out.

“Uh, no? I don’t bite people, I don’t spit, I have a normal number of limbs, I usually walk instead of like,” Spiderman crouched down, bending his limbs on either side of him and awkwardly galloping towards Adrien. The sight was hilarious, enough to dispel his purrs and just in time too.

“Do I want to know?” Ladybug asked, touching down right next to Adrien.

“I’m a spider,” Spiderman stated simply, standing upright. Adrien, however, was staring at Ladybug, hoping she’d look his way. She didn’t.

“Of course you are,” she said, then she finally turned to look at her partner. The one she’d said was _cute._ “Did you break him?”

“I’ll have you know I had nothing to do with this,” he said simply. “I’m too cute to be involved in such shenanigans.” _Why are you like this why are you like this why are you like this why-_ Adrien’s brain chastised him.

And his Lady, well, she gave him a glare he’d gladly be on the receiving end of any day.

“I’m glad you have some self confidence,” Spidey said. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to just do a quick sweep and then I’ve got some stuff to take care of.” He shot Adrien a wink. It was official, Spidey was the best wingman ever.

“Yeah of course,” Ladybug said, genuinely believing that Spiderman had things to do. “I’m sure you’re tired of being suited up, after that like, hour long interview you had today.”

“Being Spiderman never gets old, but I actually have a potential illegal weapons dealer I’m supposed to go talk to. I’d bring you guys, but I don’t know if those suits are bulletproof and I really don’t want to find out.” Maybe he really _did_ have stuff to do. And after one more line about giving them a beat down, Spidey was gone, leaving just Chat Noir and Ladybug, the dynamic duo.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, My Lady,” Adrien sang.

“Correction; it’s just you for now. We still have patrol to do.”

“But talk after,” Adrien said, gripping her hand before she could pull out her yoyo.

“Fine,” she begrudgingly agreed.

Chat Noir had never done patrol so fast. Usually he was pretty speedy, but tonight he was a flash of black and silver, going as fast as inhumanely possible. Every second he wasn’t with Ladybug was a second wasted, truly.

And it seemed Ladybug might have had a similar mindset, as she was already sprawled across a railing on the Eiffel Tower. It seemed like a risky balancing game, but Adrien knew even if she did fall, she’d catch herself long before there was any danger.

“Fancy meeting you here,” he said, his voice low as he crept closer to her.

“I wondered how long it would take for you to abandon patrol,” Ladybug said, not even bothering to open her eyes.

“You mean you didn’t even do patrols?” Adrien pouted.

“Why would I? I can see everything from up here,” she gestured out at the sleeping city before rolling towards him. Adrien dutifully caught her, helping her to her feet.

“Yes, but can you see me?” Adrien breathed, his arms still wrapped around her waist. He didn’t want to let go, but she danced away from him, ponytails swinging in the night air.

“I can always see you, chaton.” He let her words hang empty without response, simply committing the moment to memory. There was something about the way she said it that made his heart beat faster. And it was true. With her, he rarely felt overlooked.

“I have a small query for you,” Adrien said, uncertain what to do with his arms now that she’d left them. It only seemed natural to be holding her, everything else felt strange and unfamiliar. “What was all that flirting earlier?”

“You always flirt,” Ladybug stated. “I’m not sure why that’s interesting for you.”

“Yes, but usually you’re not flirting back,” Adrien slid closer to her and Ladybug took an instinctive step backwards, back towards the tower’s structure. Adrien could definitely work with that.

“Who said I was flirting?”

Adrien took a step forwards. Ladybug took a step back. “That’s the thing about flirting. You don’t usually announce that you’re doing it.” He gave her one of his signature Chat smiles, relishing the way she gulped slightly. Another step forwards, another step back on her part.

While Ladybug seemed at a loss for words, Adrien took that as a sign to keep going. “And you see, telling someone that they’re cute usually constitutes as flirting, as well is insinuating that I was on your mind.”

“Perhaps I was just stating facts,” Ladybug offered, slightly craning her neck to look at him. Adrien had always been taller than her, but he wasn’t sure when he’d turned their mild height difference into a significant one. But he was finding he definitely didn’t mind, not when she was looking up at him with those big blue eyes.

“Well then, I suppose I should praise you for those astute observations,” Chat stated plainly. He wasn’t Adrien right now, this was his superhero persona completely taking the reins, and Adrien couldn’t bring himself to care or hold back. “But a simple ‘thank you’ should suffice, unless you have more you’d wish to say…?” He tilted his head suggestively, taking another slow step forwards. Ladybug took her step, jolting when her back connected with the metal core of the tower.

Her lips were parted slightly as she just stared at him, eyes charting his face like she was committing it to memory. Chat couldn’t resist _one_ more tease. “It seems I’ve left you speechless….” He leaned closer, face only a few centimetres from hers, allowing his gaze to drop from her lips back up to her eyes. She was blushing now, he noted, his brain doing a happy dance at the sight.

“Why are you just standing there?” She managed, although she spoke in a whisper, what she’d obviously intended to be a sassy comment sounding more like a plea.

“What would My Lady suggest I do otherwise?” He grinned again, liking this flustered Ladybug more and more with each passing second.

“I-” Ladybug started but he didn’t let her get anything more out, instead sweeping down to capture her lips in a tender kiss.

It was everything he’d dreamed of and more. All the fireworks, all the gong show, all the choir of angels singing. Because he was kissing Ladybug and she was kissing him back, her arms wrapping around his neck as his hands sought out her waist. One of his hands rested there, his other creeping up her body to caress one side of her face. Years of longing finally realized on this cold September night as Adrien finally got to do what he’d wanted to since the moment he laid eyes on her.

“Chat,” she breathed as they broke away slightly and he looked at her, his heart swelling at the earnest look in her eyes.

“My Lady,” he responded as she pulled him back into her, lips finding his once more. Their first kiss had been tender but this one was passionate, like a live wire. Adrien was drawing her towards him until they couldn’t be any closer if they tried, kissing her like she was his lifeline. And maybe she was. All he could think about was her, she was the only thing in that moment. And now he knew that he could die happy, as nothing in life could ever possibly top this moment.

“I thought you said we were going to talk,” Ladybug said, pulling away from him again, much to Adrien’s disappointment.

“I mean we could talk,” Adrien said casually. “Or you can talk, and I can…” He moved his hand, tapping it against the back of her thigh once. Ladybug got the message, jumping slightly and wrapping her legs around his waist as he pushed her back against the wall, meeting her in another kiss. But he didn’t stay there for long, his lips working their way down her jaw to her neck, peppering it with soft kisses.

“Chat…” Ladybug repeated. “I-” She cut herself off with a small squeak as Adrien’s teeth lightly grazed against her skin. He paused, head still bowed against her collarbone.

“Yes, My Lady?” His voice was low, his words meant for the two of them only. 

She seemed to be having trouble forming proper sentences. Her stuttering was music to his ears, her small sighs ringing around his brain. “I think that maybe….” But Adrien never got to find out what she thought, because in that moment, Spiderman crashed right next to them, rolling into a standing position, smelling a lot like burnt rubber and metal.

“I just committed arson!” He yelled, spinning on the duo before realizing the suggestive position they were in.

“Uhhhhh.” Adrien said, as articulate as ever as he set Ladybug on her feet, stepping away from her.

“Sorry, I picked the _wrong_ way to update you to the weapons dealer situation,” Spidey said awkwardly, head turning between the two of them, his suit’s eyes the widest Adrien had ever seen them.

“No, it’s fine,” Ladybug waved a hand in the air although she still seemed a little unsteady. “Tell us about the arson.”

“Okay, so you know how you specifically said _not_ to use the taser web? Well I didn’t listen to you at all, and the weapons dealers were firing at me, whatever that happens a lot, right? But one of my taser webs like, connected with the energy core in this one gun this guy was holding and then the whole place was boom! Massive explosion, fire everywhere, and I’m just like, ‘oh shit, they’re still in there’, cuz they’re baddies, but that doesn’t mean they should die for it, right? So I’m just doing my thing going like _schwip!,_ that’s the sound my webshooters make, and then the fire trucks show up and they’re like ‘Spiderman what the fuck’ and I’m all like, ‘sorry guys! I’ll send SHIELD to pick these guys up!’ And then the fire department is like ‘yeah for sure you’re really cool but you also just burned down like this massive building’ and so I had to apologize and yeah.” Spiderman didn’t take a single breath throughout his entire explanation.

“That sounds real fun,” Adrien said, doing his best to hide his annoyance at being interrupted.

“And then I came over here, but it looks like you guys were busy, so that’s one hundred percent my bad so I’m just going to go home now,” Spidey gave them finger guns. “You know, just sleep off the adrenaline. Have fun, stay safe, if you’re going to tap it, wrap it!” And with that he was gone again, his takeoff much more successful than his landing had been.

“What just happened?” Adrien asked, slightly stunned as he turned back to Ladybug.

“Spiderman just interrupted our little ‘talk’,” Ladybug responded, her voice having regained it usual challenging edge.

“Oh, so you can speak now? You know, for a moment there, I thought a cat really had gotten your tongue.” Adrien leaned forwards, his grin so huge he thought it was going to split his face in half. “Get it? Cuz I’m like, a cat, and then we were making out, not that there was any tongue action…but I would like there to be! If that’s cool with you, sometime in the future, maybe.”

Ladybug giggled as his attempt at another suave comment took a nosedive. “It’s not funny if you have to explain it, Chat.”

“Okay, that’s fair, but I wanted to make sure you appreciated how witty it was.”

Ladybug reached up to run a hand through his hair. “Very clever, minou.”

“Soooo,” He could sense their time together was drawing to a close. It was late, much later than they usually stayed out for patrols, but he was dying to know what had inspired her change of heart. How she’d gone from ‘being in love with someone else’ to enthusiastically kissing him within the span of a week. “That was really something,” he summed up, because if there was one thing Adrien Agreste could do, it was talk like a normal person. For sure. 

“Something?” Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “Was it at least a good something?”

“A _very_ good something.” He noticed with no small amount of pride that she was still blushing, staring up at him. “Did something happen with the other guy? Change your mind about him?”

“I realized he didn’t really know me, something that was entirely my fault,” Ladybug explained. “But you’ve always liked me, and you’ve seen me at my very best and very worst, and you’ve just always been there for me. And I finally accepted the fact that we’ve never just been partners and maybe never will. Because I…”

 _Here it comes!!!!!!!_ Adrien prepared for the greatest moment of his life as his internal monologue selected a hearty wedding tune.

“I like you Chat, more than just an friend or whatever dumb excuses I’ve used over the years. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to catch on to my own feelings but I was in denial for a really long time and I just…whatever. That’s the past now.” She reached out and took his hand. Adrien’s heart was beating so loudly he was surprised she couldn’t hear it.

“I look forward to having more of this in the future,” Adrien said softly, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She embraced him back, resting her head on his chest.

It didn’t bother him that he didn’t even know her name. Knowing her identity wasn’t important to him right now. Because right now he was Chat Noir and she was his Lady and it would always be them against the world. Ladybug had just confessed to having feelings for him and he it was like he’d died and gone to heaven. He was ready to take on anything life could throw at him.

“I do too, Chat, I really do. But right now we should go home and go to sleep,” Ladybug said softly, rubbing small circles on the backs of his hands with her thumbs.

“Sleep is literally the last thing I care about right now.”

“You have school tomorrow, chaton.”

She was right. Plus, his dad would be coming back tomorrow, so no more freedom, plus he was going to be distracted all day until he got to see Ladybug again and it was just going to be a disaster.

“Can we just run away off into the sunset and never be heard from ever again?” He was only half joking.

“And who would look after Paris?”

“Spiderman seemed pretty competent,” Adrien mumbled into her hair.

“Chat, go home,” she insisted, stepping away from him and reaching for her yoyo.

“As long as you promise to text me goodnight.”

“Of course,” she said, preparing to leave, but then seemed to second-guess herself, instead stepping back towards him and giving him a quick kiss. Then she was actually leaving, giving a small laugh at the defeated expression on Adrien’s face.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, don’t look so sad.”

“That’s so far away though! And Spiderman will probably be there too meaning we can’t…do anything,” he finished lamely.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Ladybug said cryptically, casting her yoyo out into the night and blowing him a quick kiss before swinging away.

“I am so in love with that girl,” Adrien said to the empty night air before making his way back to his house. And when he got back, there was already a text waiting on his phone.

**[ Goodnight Chat <3 ] **

He only got two hours of sleep, and even that couldn’t dampen his good mood. Adrien woke up elated, mood only improved once he realized that Plagg was fast asleep and incapable of making degrading comments about his newly upgraded relationship status.

“Someone’s in a good mood again today,” Peter commented at breakfast.

“Life is beautiful, what can I say?” Adrien chirped.

“Bro, we have _school._ As in, six hours of torture. And you’re grinning like Christmas has come early.” Peter was entirely disbelieving, looking at Adrien like he was pulling some sort of prank.

“Trust me Peter, this is better than Christmas.”

Adrien was on cloud nine all day. He vaguely heard Nino and Alya asking Peter what was wrong with him, but Peter didn’t know either and Adrien didn’t bother to come up with an excuse. Life was so much brighter now that Ladybug liked him. He was appreciating every small moment all while counting down the hours until he could see her again.

Turned out, he didn’t have to wait until patrol. As soon as the bell rang, signalling the end of the day, his phone went off with a news alert.

“Who’s Mayura?” Peter asked, reading something off his own phone. It was one of the only things he could’ve said to ruin Adrien’s good mood, his blood running cold at the very mention of the name.

“She’s in alliance with the Papillon,” he said quickly, already looking around for a place to transform. “She can create monsters, just like the Papillon creates supervillains. She’s ruthless and reclusive, so we don’t see her very often. Why?”

“Cuz it says here she’s at the Eiffel Tower with some giant butterfly thing.”

“That’s not good,” Adrien said, bolting away before Peter could say anything more. He needed to get there and fast.

“Plagg, transform me!” He called, rousing the kwami from its slumber. Plagg wasn’t thrilled but did as he was told after taking one look at Adrien’s scared expression. Mayura was relatively unknown to him, but something about her had always seemed familiar, a fact that freaked him out more than he’d ever admit to.

Chat Noir was on the scene in record time. Spidey was already there and Chat had seen Ladybug zipping along on his way over. They didn’t dare approach Mayura or her monster just yet, instead meeting at the base of the tower.

“What the fuck is that?” Spiderman said.

“An amok,” Ladybug said. “It’s the sentimonsters she creates. Obviously she’s working with the Papillon right now, since it’s a giant butterfly, she uses his emotions to create it or something like that. I don’t really know the details, I just know we’ve never been able to defeat one, not without knowing what object the amok is hidden in. For all we know, it’s not even here right now, it could be with the Papillon in his little lair.”

“That’s one ugly ass butterfly,” Spidey shivered slightly. “Never been a fan.”

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Adrien admitted, feeling entirely worthless as he said so. How had he expected to be able to defeat the Papillon when he didn’t even know how to take down his helper?

“Well I can probably wrap the sentimonster up with some webbing,” Spiderman offered. “But without the amokized object, I don’t know how much good that’s going to do us.”

Ladybug looked like she was thinking, her brow drawn as the toyed with her yoyo.

“Any ideas, My Lady?” Adrien braved. She looked at him with a distant expression, something else clearly occupying her mind.

“Just one. And it’s only for a last resort. So I say we exhaust all our other options first. Spidey, you get started with that web.”

“On it, boss!” Spiderman said, shooting a web up and swinging upwards, headed to face off against the monster. It was brave of him, much braver than Adrien felt at the moment.

“Are we gonna be good?” He asked Ladybug as he prepared to join her to face off Mayura.

“You and me against it all, remember?” She gave him a small smile as she readied her yoyo.

“I just hope we can actually win this one,” Adrien didn’t have a single witty comment or pun for this situation as he extended his baton, going up, up, up.

“I’ve got a backup plan, don’t worry,” Ladybug assured, her yoyo pulling her upwards.

Spidey was already engaged in combat with both the sentimonster and Mayura as the duo joined him.

“Karen!” Adrien heard him call. He had no idea who Karen was, but Spiderman obviously wasn’t done his statement. “Activate instant kill.”

Woah. Spiderman made Adrien stop in his tracks as his usually white eye shape turned black, red pupils appearing. Instant kill did not look like it was fucking around.

“We’re not trying to kill anybody!” Ladybug called out, throwing her yoyo at Mayura. She missed, but the miraculous user turned, realizing she wasn’t alone with Spidey on the level. Adrien wasted no more time, leaping into action, going in to strike her with the baton.

“I know we’re not trying to kill anybody, but it lets me use lethal force!” Spiderman yelled back.

Mayura had no weapon other than a hand fan, but boy was she fast and good at hand-to-hand combat. She managed to fend off both Chat and Ladybug as they attacked her simultaneously.

“I hate it here!” Came Spidey’s cry as he alternated between shooting rapid-fire web bullets at the sentimonster and wrapping it with webbing. “Not here specifically, just reality. There we go!” The monster fully cocooned, he stepped back, admiring his work. Not even two seconds later, the monster ripped free from its makeshift cage, letting out a roar that Adrien didn’t know butterflies were capable of making.

“Ladybug? This isn’t working!” Spidey called again as he continued his assault on the monster.

“I know!” Ladybug replied as Mayura kicked her in the gut, sending her flying over the edge of the railing. Every bone in Chat’s body wanted to run after her, to make sure she was okay, but he forced himself to focus on fighting Mayura. Ladybug would catch herself with her yoyo before she hit the ground, he knew that. And he wasn’t about to leave Spiderman to take on both villains.

“Why are you here? Why are you doing this?” Adrien tried his hand at Spidey’s tactic of distracting his opponent. Mayura only laughed.

“Your friend wanted a challenge. Is this enough of a challenge for you?” She kicked him in the head so hard he saw stars.

“Chat!” He heard Spiderman yell, then a web attached itself to his chest, pulling him away before Mayura could strike again. Where was Ladybug?

“Permission to use taser webs?” Spiderman asked, his face coming into focus as Adrien’s vision returned. His eyes had gone back to normal, instant kill having apparently turned off.

“Sure?” He replied weakly. His confidence was fast leaving him.

“Taser webs!” Spidey shot them at the monster but they had no effect.

 _Shoot at Mayura,_ Adrien wanted to say, but couldn’t. His mouth had gone dry. Ladybug had returned and was gripping her yoyo so hard it looked like it could break at any moment. Her face was pale, like she’d seen death.

“Lucky Charm!” She cried, throwing it up to the sky. Adrien bounded over to her to see the small box that fell from the sky. It was a box of matches, with a tiny phoenix label on the front.

“Do you know what to do with that?” He asked.

Her eyes filled with tears. Oh no, he’d done something wrong for sure this time. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she beat him to the punch, swallowing hard.

“I wish I didn’t, but it’s clear as day. I should’ve done it awhile ago, but I was scared.”

“What is it?” Adrien asked, but given her lack of information, he already knew what her answer would be.

“I can’t tell you right now, I just need you to hold them off as long as possible. I might need to take Spidey too.” Right now, Spiderman was battling both Mayura and the butterfly, letting the two superheroes formulate their plan. Adrien was frustrated. He knew there was likely a good reason she wasn’t telling him, but he felt he had a right to know.

“If we’re going to be an effective team, I need you to stop keeping secrets from me.” He grabbed Ladybug’s arm. “You can’t just expect me to hold off both of them while you go off on some secret side mission.”

“Chat,” she placed her hand atop his. “I want to tell you, and I will when we have time. And I swear I was going to tell you before, but I was so scared. I need to do this now, no matter what I want. And I really really need you to just trust me right now, because I know if I tell you what I’m doing you’ll try and stop me, but I’ve already tried that angle and it doesn’t work. This is the only way we’ll win, both now and in the end. The lucky charm doesn’t lie. But we’re a team, no matter what happens.” Tears dripped down her face as she looked at him. “It’s time for me to go. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Please try and hold them off the best you can.” Her eyes held a thousand different apologies as she cast her yoyo out, wrapping it around Spiderman’s waist before running off, pulling him with her.

And Adrien let her go, turning to face the supervillain who wanted him dead as his team abandoned him. Because he knew Ladybug was doing the right thing, no matter how much it annoyed him. And he trusted her implicitly. 

* * *

Peter didn’t know what to think when Ladybug pulled him away from the action. He’d been trying to avoid killing Mayura but she was _not_ making it easy for him. In some ways he was glad when Ladybug came to his rescue before he got tired and taser webbed her. In other ways, he was anxious to learn _why_ she was forcing him away from the fight. Together, they leapt off the Eiffel Tower, landing nimbly on the ground below.

“We can’t just leave Chat!” He cried, gesturing wildly back at the tower. “He can’t take on both the monster and Mayura at once!”

“Spiderman,” Ladybug said. Was she…crying? She had the same expression she’d had when she’d met his civilian self in the park, when she’d told him he was a good person. “Remember when I told you about that power I’d found, and you said ‘with great power comes great responsibility’?”

“Yeah, of course,” he replied. “The one you said could defeat the Papillon. Are we busting it out now?”

“It’s not something we can just ‘bust out’,” Ladybug said. “It’s not a what. It’s a who. And I need to find them, but I need your help.” Now seemed to be a little bit of a tight time to go on a manhunt, but Peter was convinced he could be speedy. Whoever this powerful person was, he’d find them for her so they could take down the supervillain.

“Is it Tony Stark? Because I think I might be able to get him to come in, but fair warning, this isn’t his usual jam.” His brain was whirring through all the reasons she’d pull him of all people. It would’ve made more sense to have him hold off their enemies while her and Chat Noir searched. So it must be someone only he knew.

She shook her head. “No, I need your ground control.”

What was she saying? Peter was completely lost, given the fact that his ground control didn’t even exist. He was in battle mode, his brain scattered across a million different thoughts all vying for priority. “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I don’t quite follow.”

“There’s only one person that can wield that power I was talking about. The one who could die or turn bad, the risk I didn’t want to take. But it’s time now, I know that much. And we can’t win without their help. So I need you to tell me where I can find them.”

“Find who?” Spiderman wasn’t prepared for the answer.

“Peter Parker.” _Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that chapter had a LOT going on, but from here on is when the real fun stuff starts. I feel like Marinette is definitely taking the Phoenix miraculous a lot more seriously than Peter will, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see...? 
> 
> Also I wrote this entire chapter while listening to the Four album by One Direction on repeat and I think it shows. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and I’ll see you all next chapter (which I’m literally so excited to write because it’ll be the phoenix miraculous debut!!!!)


	8. Le Destin de Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: 
> 
> I’m putting this as a trigger warning for this chapter for mentions of eating disorders, parental abuse, depictions of suicide of a background character (non-graphic), as well as mentions of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms. While these themes are not main features of the chapter, nor are they discussed with too much detail, everyone has their own limits to what they are willing to read and what they can emotionally handle. For those looking to avoid these topics, I’d advise stopping once Peter asks Marinette if he can eat lunch with her. These themes will not become regular ones within this story, but this chapter wound up being a tad more on the serious side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHOENIX MIRACULOUS TIME!!!! You can see the concept art for his suit, miraculous, and kwami here: https://pin.it/2xskwCz  
> I’m high key very proud of it, I think he looks badass
> 
> Also this chapter was the usual length until I started editing, and now it’s like 12k words. Whoops. And now that school is officially back in session for me, updates are probably only going to be ~once per week depending on how busy I am. 
> 
> Anyways welcome back and hope you enjoy!

His luck was just getting better and better in its typical Parker fashion. Ladybug stood, waiting for his answer, and Peter hadn’t a single clue what to tell her.

“You can’t have Peter,” he decided, shifting his stance slightly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You think I want to put him directly in harm’s way?” Ladybug said. “I don’t, I really don’t, but we’ve got no other choice.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about the danger,” Peter said dismissively, waving a hand through the air. “But Peter and I can’t be in the same place at the same time. He has to be paying attention while I’m suited up. It’s his job, and it’s part of protocol.” He was sure that if either Marinette or Adrien took longer than two seconds to think his story through, they’d see straight through his bullshit, but they didn’t, so his identity remained secure.

“You can’t break protocol? Not even now?” Ladybug pleaded.

“I can’t break protocol. But I can get you Peter,” he decided. “Once he’s here though, I won’t be able to help you, so make sure this is what you want.”

“I’m sure. Just get me Peter as fast as possible.”

And he did. Spiderman swung a few houses away, dropping down into an alley and shedding his suit, back to Peter once more. From there he booked it back to where Ladybug was anxiously waiting, eyes glued to the Eiffel Tower in the near distance.

“Spiderman said you needed my help?” Peter feigned being out of breath as he skidded to a stop in front of her. She turned to him, a solemn expression on her face. Clearly she thought this mysterious ‘power’ was going to either a) kill him or b) turn him into an enemy, and Peter couldn’t wait to prove her wrong. Not that he was that overly confident, but he knew what he was capable of as a person. If no one had managed to kill him in the past, he was fairly certain that whatever she had up her sleeve wasn’t going to break that streak.

“Peter, I’m sorry, but I’ve-”

“Yes, let’s skip the dramatics, I know Chat Noir is holding off two villains up there, just tell me what you need me to do.” That seemed to snap her out of it, and she reached into her yoyo, pulling out a familiar little black and red box.

“This is for you,” she held it out to him. _Oh hell no._

“Oh no, I can’t take that thing,” Peter held his hands up, backing away slightly as the box practically whispered to him. “It’s trying to pull me in, I can feel it.” Temptation and evil were lovers, forged from the same hellfire, and Peter was definitely on the hot seat now.

“That’s because it’s meant for you,” Ladybug said, and before he could stop her, she opened the lid to the box.

A harmless ruby circle sat on a black cushion, winking up at him in the sun. It looked like a bracelet, ornate and beautifully made, but he didn’t want to take it. Not in the slightest.

However, he didn’t have time to refuse, as a ball of light rose up out of the box, growing brighter. “Ladybug!” He called. It was getting so bright he couldn’t see. Like a bomb that was about to go off.

“This doesn’t usually happen!” She said back as the ball floated towards Peter. “Where’s the kwami?” That was when the light ball exploded. It was silent, but the flash was so bright Peter was sure half the city had seen it. And in its place now floated a tiny being, not unlike Tikki.

“Oh my gosh, hi!” It had a tiny ash-brown body, massive eyes, and a fiery orange head. That wasn’t the only fiery thing about it, though. A set of wings were spread out behind it, the same colour as flames. A matching plume sat on the top of its head, an orange gem placed where the plume met its head at the front. Long grey tail feathers tickled Peter’s hand as he reached out towards it.

“What are you supposed to be?” He asked and the kwami let out a little laugh.

“I’m Suluu! I’m a phoenix kwami!”

“A phoenix?” He looked at Ladybug, who’s jaw was hanging open as she looked at them. Peter realized that where his hand had connected with the kwami, it was glowing, small tongues of flame licking his hand. It didn’t hurt, and he didn’t withdraw it.

“Suluu will give you powers,” Ladybug stepped forwards to explain. “Once you suit up, you’ll have super strength and agility, rapid healing-”

_So nothing new._

“-fire immunity, as well as whatever weapon your suit comes with.”

“You don’t know?” Peter asked.

“I’ve never seen it in action, because the phoenix miraculous is, well, dangerous.” At Ladybug’s words, Suluu looked ashamed, their tiny eyes dropping to the ground. “It’s sat in a hidden basement for years, I have no idea how long it’s been since it was used. But now I need you to harness its power so we can help Chat Noir. You have to understand that there’s a high risk it will kill you.”

“Perfect,” Peter said, taking the ruby object. “Death is like, my middle name. I’m just kidding, it’s Benjamin. What is this?” He glanced at Suluu, who perked up immediately, obviously encouraged by his lack of concern.

“It’s an anklet! You just snap it around your ankle and then we’re good to go! Just say ‘Suluu, transform me!’”

“Wait!” Ladybug said as Peter snapped the anklet on. “Aren’t you going to tell him about the phoenix song?”

Suluu paused. “The phoenix song is your main power, the one that will help you defeat evil beyond the super strength and whatnot. It’s really difficult to master, but I trust you’ll know how to use it. It’s like a scream, but with _intent_. As soon as you get it right, you must select one of the powers to use.”

“What powers?” Peter asked, eyes darting between the kwami and Ladybug. He wasn’t really a singer, but he did have lots of practice screaming that would hopefully come in handy.

“Incineration, invulnerability, teleportation, shape-shifting, pyro-physiology, or healing tears,” Suluu explained. “But it’s not pleasant, no matter what you choose.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Peter said. “I think it’s time we got back to Chat, though. Suluu, transform me!”

Suluu spiralled down into the anklet, lighting it up with a fiery glow as tongues of flame spread outwards from it, racing their way up Peter’s body. It felt warm, almost borderline uncomfortable as the transformation raced through him, but then the phoenix’s powers melded with his own and suddenly it was like being able to see for the first time.

Everything came into focus as he blinked, the tongues of flame rolling off and away from him, the transformation complete. There was so much energy inside him, bottled up and ready for use. Usually his own heightened Spidey senses were distracting and difficult to tune out, but in his new suit, he didn’t need to tune them out. For once everything came together, and he truly felt superhuman. Suluu’s power made him whole, beyond any sense of completion he’d ever felt in life. It was like he’d been born for this purpose and this purpose alone.

Glancing in a nearby shop window, Peter found he didn’t even recognize himself. His usually pushed-back brown hair was now hanging in soft curtains with an added volume that definitely hadn’t existed previously. Like Ladybug and Chat Noir, his identity was protected by a small mask around his eyes, the colour scheme and shape the same as Suluu’s wings had been. An orange gem sat against his sternum, glowing faintly, almost like Tony’s arc reactor. The suit itself was a similar ash brown colour to Suluu’s body, seemingly underwhelming at first, but the added touches to it were far from boring or simple, all following a phoenix theme.

A large, white feather wrapped its way from one of his thighs across his chest, a bright red phoenix detail rested on the other thigh. Orange feathers adorned his shoulder like epaulets, and a brown leather harness crossed over his chest. His boots and gloves kept the ‘tongue of flame’ theme, giving onlookers the illusion that his limbs were being consumed by fire. The colours were vibrant, so much more than any Avenger or miraculous user he’d seen thus far. His weapon, a glowing gold lasso, was attached to the back of his harness. He could most definitely work with that.

His anklet had turned black, with flames burning brightly inside the tiny jewellery. Peter could assume it worked like Ladybug or Chat’s miraculous, and somehow it would count down to detransformation once he used his power.

“Let’s go…,” Ladybug started, then paused. “What do you want me to call you?”

Hell yeah, it was time to pick yet another superhero name. Peter barely had to think about it, remembering back to his Greek mythology phase. Phoenixes were like, a sun thing, right? So it only made sense to choose something related to the sun.

“Helios,” he decided. “Call me Helios. It sounds badass.”

Ladybug gave him a indecipherable look, readying her yoyo. “Time to go help Chat, Helios.”

Peter swung his glowing lasso, throwing it as far as he could. It took a bit more effort than his webs usually did, but other than that it was practically the same as he swung over rooftops, feet grazing the occasional shingle. Once he was close enough, he wrapped the lasso around the top of the Eiffel Tower, carefully calculating how to strike. Chat was still locked in battle with both the monster and Mayura as Ladybug joined him.

 _Here goes nothing_ , Peter thought, leaping off the building he stood atop, revelling the way his stomach swooped from the sheer drop. His legs stuck out in front of him, slamming into Mayura as he joined his team. She tumbled backwards, caught off guard, but Peter didn’t give her a chance to recover, whipping his rope towards her not even a second later. Aided by its magic, it wrapped around her, pulling her from the ground onto her knees.

“It burns,” she gasped, eyes widening as she looked up at Peter. “Who are you?”

“I’m Helios,” Peter smirked, yanking the rope tighter. “Are you gonna get rid of this monster, or do I have to do it myself?”

Mayura managed a laugh, although it quickly turned into a cough. Seemed as though she wasn’t in prime condition, but she managed another snarky comment. “Only I can destroy it.”

“We’ll see about that,” Peter said, turning to Ladybug and Chat, who were still doing their best to fight the monster. “What should I do with her?”

Ladybug glanced at him. “Any way you could keep her there?”

“No,” Peter replied. “As soon as I let go of this lasso, she’ll be able to get out.” Ladybug screwed up her face in concentration as the butterfly sent Chat flying.

“Ah!” Mayura yelled, writhing beneath the fiery lasso. It was starting to burn through her suit. “This shouldn’t be possible!”

“I suggest you kill the monster then,” Peter stepped closer to her, looking down. “Or else things are going to keep heating up for you.” She glared at him, her jaw giving a telltale flex, and he knew what was going to happen before it did. He leapt as she spun around, attempting to knock his feet out from underneath him. Instead, she missed, going flying across the ground, slamming into poor Chat who had just recovered from the beat down the butterfly had given him. Together, both Mayura and Chat went tumbling over the edge of the tower.

Peter hadn’t realized it, but Chat had activated his cataclysm, and when Mayura had knocked him, his hand had pressed into the tower. And now the whole Eiffel Tower was crumbling beneath Peter’s feet.

“Chat!” He called, releasing Mayura and letting her free-fall, grabbing his feline companion with his lasso. Grappling onto the top of the crumbling tower, Peter managed to slow his and Chat’s descent. Ladybug, however, had landed atop the butterfly, punching at whatever she could reach. Mayura was nowhere to be seen beneath the rubble as the tower died an undignified death, and Peter quickly released Chat before his rope could begin to burn him. He had no idea why the rope burned or what effects it would have on Mayura or her kwami once she detransformed, but he assumed they wouldn’t be good.

“This isn’t working, it’s just tiring us out,” Chat said, rubbing his temples. “Also, welcome to the team.”

“Thanks,” Peter said. “Can this monster even kill anyone? It seems kinda lame, not going to lie.”

“No clue. Don’t want to find out. You got any ideas?” 

“Yeah, I’ve got one. It’s called the phoenix song, and apparently it could kill me. Guess we’re about to find out?” Peter said casually. Chat looked at him, concerned, but Peter brushed it off. What had Suluu said? Scream and go from there?

Peter let out a scream, letting it rip through his throat, but nothing happened. All it served to do was throw Ladybug off, who had been doing quite well for herself atop the butterfly. At Peter’s scream, she glanced over and the sentimonster took the distraction as an opportunity to fling Ladybug from its back, sending her flying. Peter watched helplessly, hoping, praying, that Ladybug got her yoyo out in time.

She didn’t. Peter vaguely saw her crash, and heard Chat’s yell, but his vision was fogging as his suit got uncomfortably warm. It was burning, cooking him alive from the inside out. Everything was too hot, he couldn’t see, could barely breathe. Fire licked the corners of his vision, and something was bubbling up from inside him like he was about to throw up molten lava. Tears did their best to form, evaporating on the spot from the sheer heat of his body.

This was it, Peter decided. This stupid suit really was going to kill him. The heat was reaching a fever pitch, completely unbearable, and he screamed.

Only, it wasn’t a scream that came out. A single note, somehow made into the sound of a chorus of voices penetrated the air, and everything came to a stop. It was unlike anything Peter had ever heard, it was beautiful in a way that he couldn’t fully comprehend, but it dialled back the pain, ever so slightly. It was the phoenix song, he realized. Meaning he had to choose his power, and fast.

Invulnerability was looking pretty good at that moment, with the sheer amount of pain Peter was in, but it wouldn’t help them win. So he settled on the only other choice he could think of. Pyro-physiology. He yelled the words aloud, hoping with all his heart that it would work. Because his lungs were on fire and if it didn’t work, he might as well curl up and die just to escape from the sensation of torture.

Then something cold swept across his back. It took him a moment to realize that the heat was leaving him, coming together above his head. He dared look up, and the small amount of breath he still had quickly left him.

Because above his head, a giant phoenix made of pure fire flapped its wings. It was massive, much bigger than the butterfly, and it seemed to be waiting for Peter’s command. He didn’t know what he had expected from pyro-physiology, but it definitely hadn’t been this.

He glanced at Ladybug, who was being helped to her feet by Chat Noir. Both of them were staring in pure amazement at him. Though his joints were screaming at him from their near brush with death, Peter took a step towards the butterfly, thrusting his hands forwards. The blazing phoenix swept forwards, leaving a trail of small fires as its tail swept along the ground.

The monster screeched in response to the challenge, thrusting its stinger into the phoenix, but it caught fire, burning up. Peter’s eyes burned red hot as he watched, but he couldn’t loose concentration, not now, as he imitated hugging the air. The phoenix listened, wrapping the butterfly in its wings, burning it to a crisp. The screams of the sentimonster were torture to listen to as it reached the end of its life, and they cut through Peter’s brain like a meat cleaver.

Peter watched as it crumbled into a pile of ash, its screams still echoing in his mind as he crumpled to the ground. The phoenix flew back to him, stretching out to its full height, form stark against the grey sky. And with a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air, Peter released it, letting the flames disperse into nothing.

“Helios!” Chat Noir was by his side in an instant, pressing his hand to Peter’s forehead. “Are you okay? Your skin feels like it’s on fire!”

“I’m fine,” Peter panted, his mouth dry. “Where’s Ladybug? Is she okay?”

“She was about to detransform, she’ll be back in a moment,” Chat said, sitting next to him as Peter peeled himself off the ground. “That was absolutely insane, what you did there.”

His miraculous beeped, and Peter glanced down at it, watching as another toe of the paw on his ring disappeared. “You better go,” Peter advised. “Keep the identity secret, all that.”

Chat gave him a grin. “You learn fast. Nice working with you, Helios.”

Just then Ladybug returned, holding a match box. She glanced between the two of them, then threw the match box in the air with a ‘miraculous ladybug!’. Peter noticed she was favouring her right side as she moved, giving them a quick ‘bien joué’.

“Are you okay, My Lady?” Chat sounded concerned, his gaze sweeping over her.

“I’ll be fine,” Ladybug said adamantly. “Maybe we should cancel patrol for tonight though.”

Chat pouted, but didn’t complain as he turned to leave. “Until next time, Helios.”

“Bye Chat,” Peter croaked as the magic ladybugs put out the fires around him and repaired the Eiffel Tower.

As soon as he was gone, Peter turned to Ladybug, unsurprised to see a disapproving frown on her face.

“I thought you were going to _die,”_ she said, tone stern. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that we’d exhausted all our options,” Peter pointed out. “And it didn’t kill me, so there.”

“Came pretty close by the looks of it,” Ladybug said. Peter had nothing to say in response, instead glancing down at his miraculous. The flames were dimming, creeping down to the bottom half of the anklet. He assumed his transformation would fall as soon as they went out.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” Peter suggested. “I have a feeling the media will be here soon.”

Once they found a secluded alley, Peter released the transformation, feeling the magic leave his body. A very tired Suluu popped into his hands, looking up at Peter with adoring eyes.

“You did great,” Suluu managed before falling into a slumber.

“You looked terrifying,” Ladybug admitted. “Your eyes were literally on fire and then there was that giant fire bird, not to mention that the phoenix song is literally the most heartbreaking thing ever to hear. Peter, you’re the sweetest, but it was scary.”

“Sorry,” Peter said, leaning down to unclasp his anklet.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m supposed to give it back, aren’t I?” He asked, handing the jewellery out to her. It seemed to be the courteous thing to do, especially given that she’d hesitated so much to give it to him in the first place.

“You don’t feel like keeping it?” Ladybug looked amazed. And truth be told, as much as Peter had enjoyed the miraculous, he felt no desire to run off with it. That kind of power came with a painful price, one that he’d felt, and he didn’t know if he wanted to go through that again.

“Sure it’s cool, but I also felt like a rotisserie chicken,” Peter said, placing it in her palm, curling her fingers around it. Suluu disappeared as Peter relinquished control, presumably off to slumber somewhere now that Peter was no longer harnessing their power.

“I didn’t think you could do it,” Ladybug admitted. “I feel bad saying that, but I thought for sure you’d get corrupted by it or worse, be destroyed.”

“Well, I’ve always been a bit stronger than your average human,” Peter gave her a small pat on the shoulder as he walked around her. “It was a fun time, thanks Ladybug. If you ever need my help, you know where to find me.”

“I don’t, actually. You’re a difficult boy to track down, Peter.”

Peter paused, giving her one last look over his shoulder. “Help will always be given to those who deserve it. All you have to do is ask, and I’ll find you.”

He could feel her gaze on him as he exited the alley, feeling rather good about his life choices for once. Helios had been fun, but Spiderman was his destiny, no matter what Ladybug said. Although if what she’d said about needing the phoenix miraculous to defeat the Papillon was true, it might not be the last time he felt its burn.

* * *

Nathalie’s transformation crumbled before the Papillon’s very eyes. Mayura’s suit had been nearly destroyed by the time he’d managed to get her out from under the wreckage of the Eiffel Tower whilst the superheroes had been distracted by the sentimonster. It shouldn’t have been possible. Their suits were supposed to be indestructible. Yet something had caused the phoenix boy’s lasso to burn through Mayura and her kwami. And now the two of them had burn marks around their bodies, ones that he knew wouldn’t ever fully heal. Marks made by magic could only be reversed by more magic, and until he knew what powers the boy possessed he couldn’t find an antidote. 

Maybe it was because the miraculous was damaged, Gabriel reasoned as he carried the tired Nathalie to rest on the couch once he’d detransformed and exited his lair. But the phoenix miraculous was completely new territory. It hadn’t been in his book about the miraculous, and he’d never seen it in action. Although he’d heard the stories, all terrible, about what it could do while he’d travelled the world before Adrien was born.

In history, it had razed towns, killed thousands. It sounded like the perfect playing card to get Ladybug and Chat Noir to give him their miraculous. All he had to do was find the right time to akumatize the phoenix boy, and then they’d all be playing right into his hands. His recent failures didn’t faze him, as he felt like he was growing smarter with each blow. Already he’d tricked them into revealing their greatest weapon. And there was no way they knew its full potential.

The time was coming soon, and he would destroy Ladybug and Chat Noir and everything they loved, and they would be powerless to stop him. He would turn their greatest weapon into their greatest enemy, no matter what. All he had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity…

* * *

“Master Fu!” Marinette burst into the massage shop, skidding to a halt in front of the guardian. He had been napping, but at Marinette’s interruption he sat upright, sleep leaving his body instantly.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he returned the greeting pleasantly. “What brings you here today?”

“You were right,” Marinette blurted, pulling out the box that held the phoenix miraculous. “About all of it.” She still couldn’t believe the way the day’s events had ended. Who would’ve thought that Peter was such a good fighter? Something about the sheer power he radiated, the way he stood his ground even as the phoenix’s pure energy tried to kill him; the sheer force of it had been like a slap across the face. Not to mention how he’d looked when he’d managed the phoenix song. How he’d done it, she had no idea, but it had been hauntingly beautiful, something she’d felt in her chest, yet the memory was so fleeting. Even as she thought about it, tried to remember the exact way it had sounded, the memory was grey, unwilling to let her experience it again. It was like the world had stopped, like nothing else had mattered other than his cry. It hadn’t been a happy one either. The sound was like a million hearts being broken, like the world was ending and it was one last painful note.

And the way he’d summoned the fire phoenix? Terrifying was the only word Marinette could think of that properly described the way he’d looked. His features had been helpless, contorted in pain, but his eyes had burned with the force of a thousand suns as the flames had rolled off his body and congealed above his head. Peter Parker had been an inferno, surrounded by flames yet somehow standing strong. She’d never be able to look at him without the memory of the intensity he’d radiated.

“He was able to wield the phoenix?” Master Fu asked, excitement mixed with apprehension written on his features. “Could he execute the phoenix song?”

“Yes and yes,” Marinette breathed. “And he returned it without prompting. I’d never noticed it before, but he feels…so powerful.”

Master Fu gave her a knowing look as he took the box from her. “What did he say?”

“He said he…felt like a rotisserie chicken. Then he said it was a ‘fun time’ and I knew where to find him if I ever needed help again. And I said I didn’t, because he’s difficult to track down, to which he said, ‘help is always given to those who deserve it’ and all I’d have to do was ask and he’d find me.”

“Peter Parker does have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, yes,” Master Fu said, tucking the phoenix miraculous into his pocket.

“You’re not putting it back in the basement?”

“Why should I?” Master Fu blinked. “It is not mine to have. This miraculous belongs to Peter Parker.”

“So should we be inviting him to do patrol with us or…?” Marinette was thoroughly confused as to how Peter fit into the equation.

“No,” he shook his head. “I doubt you will see him fight akumas either. If my assumptions about him are correct, and so far I’ve been right about all of them, he will dictate when you truly need the power. He is familiar with the burden of responsibility and not tempted by the concept of power. You know how rare that is to find? Even you fear losing your powers, and Chat fears losing the freedom that comes with his. It is not that Peter feels no attachment to it, it is simply that he listens to reason before he listens to fear.”

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Marinette quoted.

“What was that?” Master Fu looked at her curiously.

“Oh’s it’s just something Spiderman says. He’s Peter’s boss or something,” Marinette shrugged. “Kinda like his catchphrase.”

“Do you trust him? Spiderman, I mean.” Master Fu’s question caught her slightly off guard. Did she trust him? Marinette racked her brain, thinking of all the reasons not to trust Spidey, and there was a _lot._ She didn’t know him, he worked for the Avengers, people he had implied were flawed when it came to judgement, he knew both her and Chat Noir’s true identities, and he was constantly on side missions that he didn’t tell them about. But yes, she trusted him implicitly, in every sense of the word. Something about him was so open, she felt like she could tell him anything and not only would he listen, but he would tell her the truth and keep it between them.

“Yes,” she decided, making her answer final. “Should I not have?”

“No, I believe it is essential that you trust him if he is to provide the help you need. He is wise beyond his years, in a way that is learned, not taught.” Master Fu’s eyes held a sort of light Marinette had never seen before as he pondered something, scratching his chin.

“Would you like me to take Peter the miraculous?” Marinette offered.

Master Fu shook his head. “I will take it to him. I also would like to speak to him at some point, but I do not think it would be the most intelligent of moves at this moment. No doubt the Papillon is watching the city like a hawk. He will have realized the phoenix’s power, and assuredly knows that he cannot wield it. With that realization, he will try and turn Peter at any chance he gets.”

“But Peter can’t be akumatized.”

“But I do believe he can be threatened. Protect his identity with your life,” Master Fu turned away, heading over to pour himself a cup of tea. “That’s all I have to say today. Go home and rest, Ladybug.”

“Thank you, Master,” Marinette bowed her head as she left, opening her purse to look at Tikki. The kwami was resting after having transformed Marinette three times that day, all of the breaks in between having been very brief, just leaving enough time for Tikki to scarf down a macaron before she’d had to turn Marinette back into Ladybug.

She always felt guilty about it, having Tikki put in so much work just so Marinette could save Paris over and over again. It was difficult to properly thank the kwami for everything she put up with on a day to day basis, and Marinette wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to find the words even if she tried. So she decided the best thing she could do was let the kwami rest, carefully reaching around Tikki’s sleeping figure to pull out her superhero phone to check her messages. Unsurprisingly, a new text from Chat blinked up at her.

**[ so do I get to know his name? ]**

[ Afraid not, his identity is more important than most ]

**[ okay, so can I know literally everyone else’s names? ]**

Marinette rolled her eyes as she headed back home, giving a quick greeting to her parents and reassuring them that she hadn’t been anywhere near the Eiffel Tower that afternoon.

[ Very funny ]

[ I really am sorry that I have to keep secrets from you though ]

**[ it’s fine, I just figured it didn’t hurt to try ]**

**[ I can see why you wouldn’t want anyone to know his identity ]**

**[ he’s totally badass and the papillon would totally try and use that against us ]**

[ Precisely ]

If Chat was wondering where Spiderman had disappeared to, he didn’t show it. And Marinette was grateful. She didn’t know if she could make a convincing enough excuse to stop him from connecting the dots. There was, however, some information she _could_ give Chat.

[ He’s going to be keeping that miraculous, btw ]

[ But he won’t be around for patrols or akuma fighting, apparently ]

**[ what why not ]**

**[ he seems cool ]**

**[ also terrifying ]**

[ Something about using his power sparingly ]

Marinette flopped down on her lounger, biting her lip as she crafted and deleted a few messages, trying to think of what to say to him. They had yet to acknowledge what had happened the other night, and she didn’t really want to be the one to bring it up.

**[ hell I don’t blame him it looked painful ]**

**[ his eyeballs were literally on fire ]**

Of course that was what Chat would fixate on.

 **[ also his suit is way cooler than mine :( ]**

[ You realize that our suits reflect our inner personalities and notion of what superheroes are, right? ]

**[ do they really ]**

Marinette thought that would’ve been more obvious to him. She knew that Chat Noir was a fan of anime and the likes, and his suit reflected that. Hers was far more simplistic, with nothing flashy to get in the way. Maybe not typical of a budding fashion designer, but there was a place for desire and a place for practicality.

[ So I’m assuming that Helios just has a more advanced idea of what a superhero looks like ]

[ It’s tough to ignore, and also pays a lot of homage to phoenixes throughout history ]

[ Perhaps he already had a base understanding of what phoenixes were when he transformed? ]

[ Either way, it seems like exactly the sort of suit you’d expect from someone with that much power, right? ]

**[ I love it when you talk nerdy to me ]**

**[ but yeah it looks like he’s on fire all the time ]**

**[ the phoenix design on his thigh is so cool though I literally want one ]**

**[ of a cat ]**

[ naturally ]

Marinette had to admit, Peter’s suit had flair. She could appreciate that from both a seamstress’s perspective as well as a superhero’s. The colouring of it was almost exactly like his kwami’s, and although the gem in his chest hadn’t been his idea, it had worked remarkably well with the rest of its suit. There had been no excessive ab display (she couldn’t say the same for Chat Noir when he’d once turned into Mister Bug), yet the suit casually hinted at how ripped the boy beneath it was. No wonder Peter had beat her at dodgeball.

It was with immense effort that she dragged herself to school the next morning. Her muscles had somehow gotten worse overnight, and she had to actively concentrate on walking as normally as possible. Of course, Alya noticed instantly.

“We’re walking funny today, huh?” She raised a brow suggestively. “In a good way or a bad way?”

 _If getting my ass beat by a giant butterfly is considered a ‘good way’ then sure,_ Marinette thought bitterly.

“Tried to come back in from my balcony, missed my bed, fell down the stairs leading to the loft,” she lied. Alya made a sympathetic ‘ow’ face.

“Bad way for sure then. But how do you miss that? The bed is literally _right there!_ ”

“I’m a certified klutz, I thought we established this on like, the first day we met.”

“I mean we did, but I thought that maybe you’d gotten better,” Alya twirled a lock of hair around her fingers.

“Yo Alya, Marinette,” Peter walked up to them, bumping elbows with Alya before giving Marinette a massive grin. He looked no worse for wear, his eyes still full of their usual sparkle.

“Where’s your cute friend?” Alya asked, looking around him for a sign of Adrien.

“He’s got a photo shoot all day, can you believe my luck?” Peter rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he’d picked up from Adrien, Marinette noticed.

Speaking of the blond angel, Marinette had been surprised to learn that she was more or less over him emotionally. Sure, she thought he was probably the most beautiful person on the face of the planet, but now that she had Chat to think about, Adrien paled in comparison. Especially when she thought about Chat’s lips on-

“Have something you’d like to share with the class?” Alya teased. Both her and Peter were staring at Marinette, who obviously had a dopey expression on her features and blush on her cheeks.

“Nothing!” She let out a high-pitched giggle she was almost certain did nothing to dispel their assumptions. “I was just thinking about math!”

“Math,” Peter deadpanned. “I also catch myself thinking about indefinite integrals every now and again.”

“A what?” Marinette blinked. She’d forgotten that Peter was smarter than her in almost every way. His joking exterior was easy to get lost in; it made you blind to the intelligence that shone in his brown eyes.

“Nothing,” he waved a hand dismissively.

“I forgot to thank you for getting me that Spidey interview,” Alya said, turning to Peter. “It was an opportunity of a lifetime, I can’t believe he agreed.”

“He enjoyed it, I think,” Peter said. “One of the main differences between a superhero and a supervillain is media portrayal and how the population views them, so I know he’s always glad to give the people a chance to get to know him.” He said everything so earnestly, as he always did. It was one of the things that made Peter seem so trustworthy, the way he said everything with so much conviction. People truly wanted to listen to him.

“Have you seen him without the mask?” Alya asked, hungry for information. “Is he as hot as I think he is?”

Peter shot Marinette an awkward look, tapping his fingers against his thigh. “He’s really nice. A really solid dude. Lots of muscles.”

“I knew it! He’s hot as fuck!” Alya pumped a fist in the air, prompting others in the courtyard to cast curious glances in her direction.

“Did I say that?” Peter asked Marinette. “I don’t seem to recall saying that anywhere in that sentence.”

“You don’t have to say it, I can just tell from the look on your face! You’ve been holding out on me, Peter.”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that you have a boyfriend,” Peter cracked his neck. “As well as the fact that Spiderman repeatedly stated that he doesn’t have time for a relationship. And I can confirm. The dude barely sleeps with everything he’s got going on.”

That seemed to slow Alya down a bit. She paused, thinking. “Well if things ever get less busy for him, send him my way.”

“I won’t,” Peter smiled at her, stepping around her, clapping one arm on her back as he headed to class. It was the exact same way he’d stepped around Marinette after he’d returned the phoenix miraculous, leaving the alley like he could be a superhero any day of the week. And maybe he could. She didn’t know what the Stark internship entailed.

She watched him closely as the day progressed, seeing how he interacted with Nino and the others around him, now that she knew that he was something special and she hadn’t accidentally killed him. Peter seemed downright cheerful at almost every turn, unperturbed by Chloé’s mean remarks when he messed up attendre and assister. His ankle remained as bare as it always had, obviously without the phoenix miraculous. Marinette didn’t know when Master Fu was planning on turning it over to Peter, if he even let go of it at all.

“Marinette? Could you please repeat to the class what I just said?” Mme. Bustier tapped her fingers against her other arm, looking on with a displeased expression.

“Oh! Uh.” Marinette had not been paying attention whatsoever to the lesson. She wasn’t even sure if they were still in math.

“Of course Dupain-Cheng doesn’t know what she’s doing!” Chloé huffed. “She never pays attention.”

“Then surely you can explain to the class, Chloé?” Peter challenged, apparently deciding to put in his two cents.. “Since it seems you’re so concerned with paying attention.”

“I-! Ugh. You’re ridiculous, totally ridiculous,” Chloé rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“Madame Bustier, I can explain,” Peter seemed to have a good-natured relationship with the teacher, and she looked away from Marinette and Chloé, turning back to him with a smile. “The Nuremberg trials were a serious of thirteen trials between 1945 and 1949 held with the intent of holding Nazi war criminals responsible for their crimes. However, one can argue that they were unfair, given that some of the laws they violated were not actually internationally recognized war crimes at the time of violation. Not saying they weren’t awful things, but technically speaking, they weren’t illegal.”

“Thank you Peter! I’m glad to see someone’s been paying attention! The question, Marinette and Chloé, was ‘what were the Nuremberg trials?’. It would do you both some good to work on your focusing skills.”

Peter shot Marinette a grin over his shoulder before turning back to his tablet. It was open to a comic book that he’d obviously been reading during the class. How did that boy do it?

“Can I hang out with you at lunch?” Peter asked her as the bell rang, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Adrien’s not here, Nino and Alya are going for ice cream, and I spent enough time eating alone in the States.”

“Yeah, of course,” Marinette said, leaving the classroom with him. “I mean, as long as you’re sure you don’t want to try eating with Chloé.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “No _thank_ you. What on earth is her problem?”

“Mommy issues,” Marinette offered, pulling her lunch out of her bag. Peter didn’t have anything to eat, she noted. “No lunch today?”

“It’s not me you have to worry about, I always hit up your parents’ bakery before school. Poor Adrien is modelling swimsuits today, so he doesn’t get breakfast, lunch, or any water at all.” Peter sat at the bottom of the steps, tapping his feet against the concrete.

“No water?”

“Dehydration helps muscles stand out more,” Peter explained, looking dejected. “It makes the skin like, tighten and stretch over the muscle. I’ve only seen his dad twice, once when he told Adrien to go to bed, and the second time this morning when he told him he wasn’t allowed to eat. And I’m with Adrien all the time. That’s one fucked up household, I’ll tell you that much.”

Marinette didn’t know what to say. She’d never considered that those (admittedly glorious) swimsuit shots she’d seen of Adrien before took such a toll on his body. That by purchasing the magazines he was featured in, she was festering the abuse.

“I had no idea that happened to Adrien. I know his dad was distant but not…,” she let her voice trail off. Distant to this extent? Forcing his son into dangerous situations?

“I was actually going to skip class today and sneak onto the Eurostar with him, because they’re shooting in London today, but I’ve got to stick around in case Mr. Stark or Spiderman need me. Of course, I’ve also thought about specifically contacting Spiderman to take Adrien some food, but then I’d have to skip class too and I’d risk getting Adrien in trouble.”

“Do it,” Marinette shook her head. “From what you’ve told me, it sounds like Gabriel Agreste is forcing an eating disorder on his own son.”

“What I’ve seen of the so-called ‘meals’ he has the chefs prepare, there’s no way Adrien’s body is getting enough nutrients it needs to function.” Peter stood up, looking down at Marinette with a determined stare. “I’m going to go get Spiderman on the case. I won’t be in all afternoon, tell Madame Bustier that I died or something, I honestly don’t care.” She watched him leave, so desperately wishing she could suit up and join Spiderman on his trip to London, but he had a better chance of getting Adrien food without being noticed. So instead she watched Peter run away, dodging a bus, and then get hit by a car.

 _Hit by a car!_ It took her a second to realize what had happened as she ran out into the street, eyes glued to the spot where the car had collided with the side of the bus, sandwiching Peter in between the two vehicles. There was no way he was still alive.

Marinette’s head was spinning as she raced over, all the noises fading into the background, becoming fuzzy. And for a second she thought she was hallucinating, because there was Peter, standing upright and unscathed. One of his feet was planted firmly on the car’s front bumper and the rest of the car had folded around it. There was a Peter-shaped indent in the side of the bus and he looked a little surprised, but also entirely unharmed.

“Peter! How the hell?” Marinette looked at the wreck.

He took the entire scene in before a slow grin spread across his face. “Looks like I’m just lucky,” he said mildly, stepping away from where he should’ve died, moving to help the driver out of their car.

“You alright?” He asked them.

“How are you alive, kid? I thought I killed you!” The driver seemed to be on the edge of a mental break.

“Yeah well, I work out sometimes,” Peter said, helping the man sit at the curb, simultaneously dialling 112. More people were climbing off the bus and getting out of their surrounding cars, and Peter threw Marinette a glance that practically pleaded for help, but Marinette didn’t know what to do.

“I need to go,” he pulled her aside. “Make sure they’re alright, okay?”

“How are you okay?” Marinette grabbed his arm to prevent him from running away. “Peter you should’ve been _crushed_.”

“Marinette, I once stopped a bus with my bare hands. I’m fine, trust me? There’s an ambulance on its way, if you need to go for trauma counselling or anything. These things can be kind of scary, but it seems like everyone’s going to be okay.” He gave her a kind smile that left her with more questions than answers before sprinting away again.

Marinette was at Master Fu’s in a heartbeat as soon as school let out. She hadn’t had to come up with an excuse for Peter, turned out, as everyone assumed he’d left in an ambulance. No one would’ve believed her if she’d told him that he ran away unharmed. There was simply no way any human being could’ve been hit by a car and walked away like that.

“Peter got hit by a car!” She burst into the massage studio for the second time in two days. This time, Master Fu had a customer, who jolted up, towel sliding all over the place.

“I’m sorry,” Master Fu told the customer. “I’ll need you to come back another time. It seems someone very important to me has just been the victim of vehicular malfunction.”

As soon as the customer was expelled from the building, Master Fu gave Marinette his undivided attention. “Is he in the hospital?”

“No, that’s the thing. He’s completely fine,” Marinette described exactly what she’d seen.

When she finished, Master Fu turned away from her, dusting his table. “Your eyes must have deceived you, Marinette.”

“They couldn’t have! I saw the indents where his foot and body were! That doesn’t just happen!” Marinette threw her arms out. “Peter Parker should be _dead_ right now.”

“But he’s not, so clearly you must have seen it wrong,” he said simply. “Like I said before, Peter Parker is always in the right place at the right time. He must’ve been in the perfect position to avoid being crushed.”

“Then how…?” Marinette snapped her mouth shut. Now was not the time to argue with Master Fu. “Just thought I’d update you.”

There was something very suspicious about Peter, and Master Fu was in on it too, Marinette could tell. The problem was, she had no idea what.

* * *

Adrien was prepared to pass out completely. He’d spent the past six hours underneath hot lights in a stuffy studio, having his starving body manipulated for the photographers. The only thing keeping him conscious was the way he convinced himself that Ladybug would not be very happy if her partner died at a photo shoot.

 _More than partner,_ his mind reminded him, causing a smile to invade his features.

“Stop it! Neutral expressions!” The director of photography screeched, pulling at his hair out of sheer frustration. “Take a fifteen minute break and get it together!”

Adrien’s female model counterpart gave him a small smile of thanks, Adrien having taken the fall so they could have a short break. Adrien knew it was just so the photographer could get a hit of nicotine to calm his nerves, but he didn’t complain, standing on shaky legs and returning to his dressing room.

There was no food, not even a sink. It was torture. His head was throbbing, causing the room to spin beneath his feet. And now he was hallucinating, because Spiderman was standing there, holding a takeout bag to Pedzouille, a restaurant Adrien had never been to, but heard great things about. It was such a realistic illusion, to the point where he could smell the delicious fumes wafting off the bag.

“Adrien?” Spidey sounded nervous.

“Wait, are you real, or am I dying?” Adrien laughed, although he wasn’t sure what was funny.

“I’m real and I brought you food.” Spidey helped him sit down, opening the bag and spreading a variety of takeout boxes across the dressing room counter. “Peter told me what your dad was doing, and he asked me to bring these for you. It was the first place I found that did takeout, I hope this is good.”

Adrien’s eyes were watering as he dug into the delicacies laid before him. At this point, Spiderman could’ve brought Adrien a rotting cow carcass and he still would’ve eaten it with gusto, but he was glad that his superhero companion had been thoughtful enough to bring something edible.

“New look?” Adrien said around a mouthful of food, waving a hand at Spiderman’s attire. The boy was wearing a black hoodie with a silver Eiffel Tower stitched on it overtop his usual suit.

“I could say the same for you,” Spidey replied, leaning against the door. Adrien glanced down at himself. Oh yeah. He was currently modelling a wetsuit made of black and green shimmery fabric that was somehow tighter than his skin. Honestly you’d see less if he just stood in his boxers. “But it’s getting cold, a spider has to stay warm somehow. Also some lady gave it to me on the street outside the restaurant. Everyone here is so nice!”

“Yfff,” Adrien agreed as he shoved a dinner roll in his mouth. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in ages, alternating between stuffing his face and guzzling the two massive bottles of water Spiderman had brought. He managed to eat all of it in the short window of time the break had been and he could already tell he was going to pay for it with a stomachache. “Thank you, Spiderman.”

“No problem,” Spidey said, then his voice dropped an octave as he leaned closer to Adrien. “If he _ever_ does this to you, I don’t care where you are or what time of day it is, you let me know and I’ll bring food for you, or anything else you need. I don’t truly hate many people, but your dad is one of them that I make an exception for.” He leaned back, those massive, white eyes staring into Adrien’s soul.

“Nahhh, this is nothing,” Adrien waved a hand. “One time he didn’t let me eat anything for thirty six hours, now that was torture.” He’d tried to make light of the situation but failed miserably, he could tell.

“ _He did what?”_ Spiderman’s tone was on edge, dangerous.

“It was awhile ago, don’t worry about it!” Adrien did his best to smooth it over quickly, his heart beating in his throat. “If he ever does it again, I’ll let you know, I promise.”

“Good,” Spiderman said. “You get back to work, I’ll hang around until you’re done.”

“I don’t finish until like, seven pm,” Adrien said, reaching for the dressing room doorknob. “Go home Spidey, I’ll be fine.” Spiderman didn’t look convinced.

A horrible five hours later, Adrien was finally done, sliding into the car that the Gorilla was waiting in. The photographer had not taken kindly to the obvious fact that Adrien had been chowing down while in the dressing room but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

And Adrien did wind up paying for it. Not even twenty minutes later he felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly in the gut and had just done his best to keep the pain off his face for the remainder of his shift. Indigestion was a bitch but even then, he’d rather have eaten too much too fast than not at all.

They were driving in the rented car back to the Eurostar, and Adrien was not looking forward to the two hour-something ride home. He hadn’t seen Spiderman as he’d left the building, but a soft thud on the car’s roof alerted him to the hero’s presence.

And when they got on the train, Adrien saw that Spidey had upgraded his look. His hoodie was pulled up, black track pants pulled over the bottom half of his suit, bulky basketball shoes hiding his usual red boots. That being said, his face was still 100% Spiderman’s face, no doubt about it, but the new outfit definitely lessened his chances of being recognized. He got on not far behind Adrien and his bodyguard, biding his time. Sure enough, within a few minutes, the Gorilla had dozed off, allowing Adrien to slip away and sit next to Spiderman.

“Master of disguise, are we?” Adrien asked.

“It’s worked so far,” Spiderman said. “Plus, I wanted to know what happened between you and Lady. It’s obvious I interrupted something, which by the way I’m really sorry about, I literally never wanted to be that guy. But I _do_ want to be the guy that gets to know all the gossip.”

“It’s all good. Lots had already happened by the time you showed up.”

“I take it that involved something a little more than just talking,” Spiderman said. “I’m grinning right now, by the way. I know you can’t tell. But trust me, it’s a very cool smile, that just kinda says like, ‘damn Agreste get some’.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Adrien laughed. “I don’t know what you look like at all, so now I’m just picturing a smile like, on top of your mask.”

“You’re weird. Just picture the most average white boy you’ve ever met and that’s pretty spot on.”

“From what I can see through your suit, you’re above average,” Adrien said before he realized the possible ways Spidey could interpret that. “I mean in the muscle department! You’re ripped. That’s all, and I mean _all_ I have ever noticed about you.”

“Okay, if you say so,” Spiderman shrugged. “That’s my ego that you’re stroking.”

“Wait, so do you think if Ladybug and I wore disguises like that, I’d be able to take her on a date?” Adrien couldn’t believe he’d never thought of it. He used disguises all the time to hide from paparazzi, why hadn’t he thought about doing it while he was a superhero? It just made sense.

“Maybe,” Spidey mused, stroking his chin. “As long as you weren’t doing any strenuous activity, since that seems to deplete your miraculous faster.”

“Wait, what?” Since when did Spiderman know more about miraculous than Adrien?

“Yeah, when you guys do patrol or whatever, your miraculous seem to last around an hour. Usually by the time you’re finished akuma fighting, you’re already close to detransforming because of cataclysm or whatever. But when you’re just vibing in costume, doing things you don’t need super strength or whatever to do, you can keep them up for hours at a time. I figure that’s because your kwamis need to supply you guys with energy and whatnot during patrol, so it depletes them faster. But if you two are doing normal people things while suited up, you’d probably be good to have a date together for a few hours.”

“Man, are you some child prodigy or something?” Adrien asked. “Because you seem to give everything a lot more thought than the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I’ve got an IQ of around two hundred and fifty or something,” Spiderman said casually.

“What’s considered a genius?”

“Anything over one sixty.”

“Oh, okay.” Adrien sat back against his chair, staring straight ahead, trying to ignore the fact that possibly the smartest person he’d ever met was sitting right next to him. “Any other things you’d like to share with me while you’ve got the chance, Mr. Genius?”

“It was a mistake to tell you that.”

“Yep, it was,” Adrien agreed. He couldn’t help but wonder what Peter’s IQ was. As in, how smart you had to be to work for these guys. Probably something insane. Maybe not as insane as Spiderman’s but most likely somewhere up there. Genius level at least.

“So are you going to ask her out?” Spidey caught Adrien slightly off guard.

“Ask her out?”

“Yeah, I’m assuming she said she likes you.”

“I guess she did, yeah.”

“Then ask her out! You’ve been waiting for this opportunity, man!” Spidey turned to him, eyes widening in excitement.

“What if she remembers why she didn’t like me in the first place and rejects me?” Adrien didn’t really mean to voice that particular fear aloud, but it hung in the air nonetheless, and Spidey seemed to think for a moment.

“Why the hell would she do that?”

“I don’t know?!” Adrien threw his hands up in defeat. “I’m a scaredy cat, okay?”

“Well be a brave cougar or lion or something. I don’t know any good cat idioms.”

“I don’t even know what an idiom is,” Adrien countered.

“I was about to ask if you’ve ever taken an English class, but you’re literally French,” Spiderman laughed. “Maybe I’m not as much of a genius as you think. Intelligence is relative.”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” Adrien stretched his back out, glancing out the window as they left the tunnel, now zooming through Paris towards the station beneath the almost set sun.

“Do you feel like suiting up tonight?” Spiderman whispered, eyes darting around the relatively empty train car.

“Is there an alert?” Adrien pulled his own phone out. No alerts.

“Not an akuma, something different. I’ve got a tip off that a couple weapons dealers are going to try running away at Marseille Fos Port tonight. I want you to be there, if you’re up to it.”

“Marseille is literally like an eight hour drive away,” Adrien said. “How do you expect us to get there in time?”

“If we leave right now, I can get us there in an hour.”

“I can’t just leave my bodyguard!”

“Just say you got off at the wrong stop,” Spidey shrugged. “I’m not saying you have to come, I’m just saying it would be fun.”

“Okay, I’m coming,” Adrien decided, watching as Spiderman carefully eased the window open, pressing his palm to the outside of the train.

“Wait one second.” Spidey slipped out the window, sticking to the side of the train before shooting another web back inside and pulling Adrien out.

“Transform,” Spiderman demanded as Adrien stared, eyes wide, at the city whipping by in front of them.

“Okay!” He squeaked. “Plagg, transform me!”

He’d never transformed on the side of a train before and it wasn’t something Adrien ever wanted to do again. Spiderman directed him to climb onto his back, securing Adrien with webs before leaping off the side of the train, shooting out webs, catching the duo before they smacked into the ground.

“Marseilles, here we come!” Spiderman cheered as his powerful arms pulled on webs, sending them on their merry way.

Marseilles was on the other end of the damn country, but Spiderman moved way faster than Adrien ever thought possible, occasionally landing on trains, running along the length of them before creating his own path. Spiderman was not subject to roads or train tracks, just as long as he had somewhere to swing from. And true to his word, they were at the port in precisely one hour and four minutes.

He didn’t even seem winded from what Adrien had considered one of the scariest and coolest moments of his life. Spiderman had not only carried himself, but he’d carried Adrien too, and at such a high speed. It was terrifying. Not to mention how Adrien had nearly fallen once the webs started to wear off.

“Here we are,” Spidey said, setting Adrien on the ground. It was awkward, given that Adrien was taller than him, but they made it work. “Now we just gotta figure out where they are.”

Adrien had never been to the ports. They were dirty and smelled bad and were crawling with sketchy folk. Especially at night. Granted, the majority of the people who worked there were probably great folk, but Marseille had gained a reputation in France. And not a good one.

In fact, Adrien had never even been allowed to go.

“That suit bulletproof?” Spiderman asked.

“I have no idea,” Adrien said truthfully. “They’re supposed to be indestructible. Is yours?”

“Yeah, plus it’s got mini-shields. Karen, activate bullet repelling shields.” Spiderman glanced at him, looking Adrien up and down. “Let’s go, kitty cat.”

Spiderman was still dressed in his street wear, helping him and Adrien stay hidden in the shadows as they crept away from the port’s main entrance, headed towards one far end of the port. A cargo ship was currently being loaded, Adrien could see, given his night-vision.

“Okay, so they’re going to be loading their last stock of weapons onto that ship. What we need to do is apprehend them. They are one hundred percent, with out any shred of doubt, going to fire at us. So you need to be fast, and you need to be sneaky. I’ll tie some of them up, and if any of them try and run, you grab one of their guns and shoot them in the foot. Got it?”

Adrien nodded confidently, despite the fact he’d never so much as looked at a gun before in his life. Spiderman had wanted him to be there, and boy would Chat Noir deliver.

“So what are you going to do?” Adrien whispered. “Walk in there and be like, ‘hello weapons dealers’?”

“Now that you mention it, that’s a great idea,” Spiderman said enthusiastically. “You stay in the shadows, get ready for them to run, and I’ll go give them a show. Code word is underoos. I say underoos, you get out there.”

“Sounds good to me.” Adrien didn’t know what an underoo was, nor did he have time to inquire.

“Ready, break!” Spiderman slipped away before Adrien could even finish blinking. He had no idea where he’d gone, but right now he had a job to do. A nice large shipping container was sitting right by their ship, casting the perfect shadow for him to hide in. It was only now that he caught sight of Spiderman again. He was standing atop the ship, having shedded his outer attire, silhouetted against the sky. A small ring of men were standing not too far away from the ship, money and guns exchanging hands. Perfect.

 _Schwip! Schwip!_ Adrien heard the telltale sounds of Spidey’s webs, yet he couldn’t see where they’d landed. But the small noise had definitely gotten the mens’ attention.

“What was that?” One of them said in a gruff voice. “Are you sure we’re alone?”

“Calm down,” another answered. “That was our last deal and we’re skipping town now. The buyer’s probably long gone, there’s no way they’ve brought the cops in.”

“It’s not the cops I’m ‘fraid of,” the first one responded.

“Hey guys! You mean to tell me I missed out on your last weapons deal! No way, I wish I’d gotten the invite, I would’ve brought cake.” That’s when Spidey chose his moment to drop in. The men startled, reaching for their guns. A few turned to run and Adrien reached for his baton, sinking into a ready stance, but they didn’t get far. Spiderman’s webs were connected to two very large shipping containers which he was now pulling towards the ring of men, blocking off their exit. Now all that surrounded them was water, water, and Spiderman standing in front of their getaway ship.

That was when they decided to start firing.

Just as Spidey had said, he had bullet repelling shields that exploded outwards from his suit before any of the fire could so much as graze him. “Underoos!” He yelled as he released the webs from the containers, beginning to fire webs at his assailants.

That was Adrien’s cue. He ran out, swinging his baton, knocking into the first man that came at him. They were fast shooters, but they surrendered accuracy in favour of speed, already going against the first rule of fencing. Maybe the men hadn’t taken fencing, but Adrien had, and therefore he knew that chasing speed only ever resulted in haste. Control would always meet its mark before a strike from a hasty opponent.

Spiderman had managed to wrap up a few opponents by now, his suit still sending out small blue shields to keep him from injury, but they seemed to be getting in his way. There were only two weapons dealers left, the one who had been firing at Adrien and one who’d got their hands on a machine gun and was blasting at Spidey with reckless abandon, a rhythmic pinging noise echoing through the night as bullet casings landed on the concrete.

Adrien’s opponent clicked his gun, out of bullets, before dropping it and raising his fists. It was a score Adrien was all too pleased to settle. He let the man throw a few punches, easily dodging each one, before smacking him upside the head with his baton. Boom, out cold.

“Chat!” Spidey yelled, suddenly shooting a web in Adrien’s direction. It smacked him in the chest, flattening him against the ground just in time to see a storm of bullets sail through the air where his head had been only seconds before. Seemed like Spidey’s guy was still conscious and kicking.

“Yes, this is Spiderman, I’ve apprehended multiple weapons dealers at Marseille Fos Port,” Chat could hear Spiderman saying, then a sickening pop echoed through the empty port.

“Who do you work for?” Adrien sat up, only to see Spiderman staring down at the machine gun guy. He was on the ground, holding his ankle in a funny position.

“I’m not going to tell you,” the man said, glaring up at Spidey with unrestrained loathing. “You’re just a child with no sense of how the world works.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Spiderman retorted, unfazed. “But if you’re not going to talk to me, SHIELD is going to be here in a few minutes, and they take a lot less kindly to that sort of thing.”

“A captain always goes down with his ship,” Machine gun guy stated, pulling a small pistol out from his jacket.

“Jesus Christ man, you’re not a captain,” Spidey said. “Please don’t do this, I’ve got a new guy on the job, he doesn’t need to see that. Chat, look away.”

Adrien couldn’t. He watched, almost transfixed, as the man brought the gun up to his head. Spidey tried to shoot a web at him, but something didn’t work. The web didn’t fire, but something else did. The man’s gun. And Adrien had never been so glad to be distracted in his life. He’d been looking at Spiderman, he’d missed it.

“Don’t look,” Spiderman said gently, walking over to Adrien. “Sorry you had to see that, but we’ve got to go. SHIELD is here.” Sure enough, he could hear the helicopter blades in the distance. He felt like he was going to be sick.

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Adrien choked out as they swung back away through the night air. “Your webs…?”

“My webs aren’t organic material. I craft web fluid, and I ran out right then. I didn’t have time to change the canister before he…you know. I’m glad you missed it though, you really didn’t need to see that.”

“Do you see people die a lot?”

“Not usually. But every now and again, there’s someone I can’t save. But I do try to take the path least littered with bodies.”

“We should’ve brought Ladybug. She could’ve fixed it,” Adrien said, burying his face into Spiderman’s back.

“She can’t bring people back from the dead, Adrien. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have brought you if I’d known that was going to happen. I swear I just thought that it would be a standard tie-em-up-then-leave sort of deal. But I guess they had more secrets than I expected. Maybe SHIELD will manage to get something out of the other guys.”

“I feel dumb for forgetting that every fight doesn’t end in fixing everything,” Adrien admitted. “I’ve never seen someone die like that before.”

“No matter what you do, there’s always going to be those who would rather die than be captured. You try to save them, but to them there is a fate worse than death. All we can do is remind ourselves that life is not ours to take away from someone. That’s a choice they make themselves.”

“Is that the genius talking again?” Adrien asked, giving a small smile.

“No, this is just Spiderman. He’s seen a lot of shit he hopes you never will. But you’re going to see your own stuff, and some of that stuff will mess you up and stay in the back of your mind forever. But then you’ll see other things that will remind you why you’re a hero, why you put on the suit. And it’s always the good stuff that will get you through to the next day. It won’t be the baddie you defeated, it’ll be the old lady you helped who bought you a churro. That’s why we do what we do.”

“Hey Spiderman?” Adrien said as they touched down in his room.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” There was so much Adrien wanted to thank him for. Thanks for being his mentor, for looking out for him, for passing on everything he’d learned.

“Any time Agreste,” Spiderman backed towards the window, shooting his web out. “Hopefully that’s the only death we have for awhile.”

“Hopefully,” Adrien echoed. “Goodnight, Spidey.”

Spiderman winked before leaving, swinging off into the night. The nights events had been a lot to deal with, but no matter what, Adrien was glad to have someone like Spidey by his side. Sure, the hero’s powers were admirable, but what Adrien admired most was the boy’s personality. His unbridled optimism, the way he always knew when to joke around and when to be serious. Spiderman’s wisdom transcended his years in a way that Adrien could barely begin to comprehend, but he understood the bare minimum of it. No matter what, Spiderman was always going to be there for him. And to have someone love him on that level while knowing both his identities, it was a foreign concept to him. But maybe, just maybe, Adrien was beginning to learn that people could love him and not want anything in return.

* * *

Peter landed back in his room, chest heaving as he ran to the bathroom, transformation falling around him as he made it to the toilet bowl, throwing up as tears worked their way down his cheeks. He was just glad he’d been able to save face around Adrien. No matter how many people Peter saw die, it never got any easier. Every time, he wondered if that was how his parents had died.

He did everything he could to rationalize it each time, to remind himself that for every person that died, he’d save a hundred more. It wasn’t the same, but it was all that he could do. Pay his dues to his debts in the hopes that no more kids grew up without their parents like he did, at least not if he could do anything to stop it.

It took him a few minutes of sitting there on the tile, breathing deeply, before he could stand again and head back to his room.

 _Maybe if you were faster with your canisters,_ his brain nagged. There was nothing he could do now, but he resolved to check his canisters before missions now. That was really all he could do. Ensure he didn’t make the same mistake twice.

As if in a daze, he managed to change into his pyjamas, flopping backwards onto his pillow. His head collided with something hard beneath the mounds of cushion and he frowned, sitting back up and digging a hand under the nearest pillow, fingers closing around something cold.

He could tell what it was from the shape immediately as he pulled it out, inspecting the familiar box in the moonlight. The red design practically glowed, calling him to open it. And he did. Peter was no longer afraid of the power it might possess, nor the way he felt drawn to it. He was done running from destiny, especially if that destiny was to help people.

The ruby anklet sat nestled in the pillows with a small, handwritten note. Peter bypassed the anklet, raising the letter so he could see it in its entirety.

Three words were written in a fancy scrawl. Three tiny words that would change the course of Peter’s life. Three words that left the world in his hands.

_L’utilisez bien._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is l’utilisez one word or two? Technically speaking it’s la/le + utilisez but does putting them together make one word? I have no idea, but we’ll just say it’s two. And if it turns out it’s not, that’s my bad. 
> 
> Okay, so Peter’s superhero name was initially going to be Hyperion, but then it was wayyy too close to Viperion, so I chose between Helios and Pyro and Helios won me over. So yay Helios and welcome to the French Miraculous team! It’s about time that Peter gets his own kwami, in my opinion. 
> 
> I really managed to cram literally everyone’s perspective into this chapter, huh? Anyways, next time I’ll be back with more Ladynoir, I promise. Also if you couldn’t tell, I love writing Master Fu saying cryptic stuff all the time. The wise old mentor is literally my favourite trope of all time. 
> 
> Have a good week everyone, see y’all next time :)


	9. Remerciez le Chef

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soup time soup time soup time soup time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we’re back! Fun fact, this chapter was supposed to be done and posted hours ago, but then I decided to watch the New York special instead of editing :) Anyways it was spectacular and it was also the first time I’ve watched MLB in English because I forgot to record it on TF1. Let me tell you, it was an experience and a half and oh my god their voices are so different. That being said, if anyone knows where I could find the French dub please let me know I will love you forever. 
> 
> Also I think Peter and Jess would be an absolute power couple and you can’t change my mind (sequel/spinoff fic maybe?) 
> 
> As always, you can check out sketches I’ve done relating to the story on my Pinterest here: https://pin.it/2VG4krC   
> (I drew a bunch of Adrien fashion concept art while I was binge watching Brooklyn 99 and ignoring my responsibilities this week, hope you enjoy)

Peter woke up early. Way too early for a Tuesday morning, considering he’d had approximately three hours of poor sleep that night. But he had some business to take care of before the day begun. Namely, the kwami nestled on the bed next to him and the ruby anklet secured around his ankle.

“Psst,” he hissed, gently nudging Suluu’s sleeping form. “Suluu.”

“Peter Parker!” The kwami was awake in an instant, shooting up and hovering in front of him. “You’re back! I’m back! We’re back together!”

“Shhhhh!” Peter raised a finger to his lips, looking around the room. He needn’t have worried. His bedroom was massive, and the chances of Adrien hearing him were slim. The boy slept like a rock. “I’ve got someone sleeping next door.”

“Oh! Right,” Suluu lowered their voice quickly, zipping back and forth in front of Peter. “Sorry, I’m just so excited! It’s been forever since I’ve been allowed to exist like this! And with you! You’re the best phoenix I’ve ever had! I can tell already!”

“No pressure or anything,” Peter mumbled, climbing out of bed. “I should warn you though, we probably won’t be suiting up very often.”

Suluu pouted, their beak turning downwards. “Why not?”

“Because one,” Peter said, pulling socks on over his anklet. “It’s kind of a lot to take in. Sure, it feels great, but also it kind of burns. Second because Helios isn’t my only secret identity.”

“What?” Suluu settled on the bed once more, tucking their little arms under their chin.

“You have to keep this a secret,” Peter warned. “No one in Paris knows, so I’m trusting you big time with this one.” If they were going to be a team, Peter had to trust the creature. Plus, it would be hard to hide his past times from a being that was practically tied to him.

“Even if I wanted to, I quite literally can’t,” Suluu said. “You’re my master, I have to obey your commands.”

Peter’s eye twitched. “Let’s not do that whole like, ‘I own you’ thing because that’s just _weird._ If you don’t agree with something I say or I’m ever asking you to do something you don’t want to do, you let me know, okay?”

Suluu’s eyes shone. “Really? You’re giving me freedom?”

“Uh, yeah? You’re a living thing, obviously. Consent and boundaries are important.” Peter shook his head. “Anyways, secret time.”

“Secret time!” Suluu clapped their arms together. “I love secrets!”

Peter donned his best Morgan Freeman impression, standing up straight and spreading his arms out slightly. “In the day time, I’m Peter Parker, boy genius who works for billionaire superhero Tony Stark. At night…Karen! Suit time!” He let the spidey suit burst out from his necklace, covering him head to toe in his familiar costume. “At night, I’m Spiderman, fighter of evil and protector of the people? I don’t know, it sounded better in my head.”

He deactivated the suit, becoming Peter Parker once more. “Basically, I already have a superhero persona.”

“Woah! That’s so cool and I’m so confused,” Suluu admitted. “And hungry.”

“Let’s get you some food, then,” Peter said, checking the time. Five am. Great. “What do you like to eat?”

“Soup!” Suluu cheered. “I haven’t had soup in eons! It was so delicious.”

“Alrighty,” Peter said. “We’ll take you down to the kitchen and I’ll do my best not to burn soup for you. And then I’ll tell you my story.”

And so he did. Peter didn’t hold anything back. For once in his life, he felt like he could be one hundred percent open with someone. The knowledge that Suluu was meant for him, that the tiny being was compatible with who he was beyond a physical level only encouraged him. It felt so good to get it off his chest, to just tell someone how he felt.

“So let me get this straight,” Suluu said, sipping soup from a spoon that Peter held up for them. “You got bit by a radioactive spider that allowed you to develop powers on your own, you’re part of an elite superhero task force, and now you’re in Paris, teamed up with two other miraculous users to defeat someone using the butterfly miraculous for evil? I missed so much these past years. And this soup is so much better than I remember it being!”

“Have you ever met the other kwamis?” Peter asked. Now that he’d had his turn to share, he wanted to know Suluu’s story too. He didn’t even know where to start.

“I’m the oldest kwami. That doesn’t mean I was the first ever entity, it just means my power was harnessed for human use before all the others. Even my corporeal form was too powerful though, even after the power had been limited, so they put this gem in my forehead. I was the test run, and I can tell you for sure, it was so painful. Without this gem, you’d burn up the instant you tried to transform, probably burning half the world with you.”

“Sounds fun,” Peter shrugged. “I can see how that might not be ideal though.”

“Definitely not ideal…,” Suluu gave him an odd expression. Right, sarcasm definitely hadn’t been a thing all those years ago. Peter resolved to give him? Her? Them? A refresher on modern slang when he got the chance.

“So, do kwamis conform to the gender binary?” Peter asked casually, drumming his hand that wasn’t occupied with the spoon against the table.

“Not necessarily,” Suluu said, polishing off the last of the soup. “Or at least, I don’t. Last millennia I was called a ‘he’ by my master, but this time around, I’m feeling like more of a ‘she’.”

“Aight, cool,” Peter nodded. “Do you have organs? Like do you have blood? Are you made up of cells?”

“These aren’t the usual questions I get,” Suluu conceded. “Usually they just ask about the powers and then move on from there. I don’t actually know.” She looked thoughtful. “How about we refrain from cutting me open to check, though.”

“That, I can do,” Peter said. “Is there anything I should know? About using the phoenix miraculous or whatever.”

“There’s a lot. It would take hours, possibly days to explain it all. But I know where to start. You, Peter Parker, are the new guardian of the phoenix miraculous. And as one of the ten people in your generation who could wield me, it is now your duty to guard the miraculous until you reach the end of your prime years. And then you can look for another wielder. But it’s always been hard for those who hold the phoenix miraculous to pass it on.”

“Why? Because they didn’t want to risk someone else’s life?”

“No, because they simply became addicted to the power. They were bad to start with, or bad by the time they died. No one who has ever tasted my power has ever given it up willingly. No one except you.”

She stared at Peter like she expected this to be monumental information, but really Peter had just been courteous. He really didn’t want to inconvenience people, ever, and turning into an evil supervillain seemed like it would inconvenience _a lot_ of people.

“I was just doing the right thing,” Peter laughed awkwardly. “Like I said, this hero stuff isn’t new to me. Got a few years under my belt.”

“You’re not wearing a belt,” Suluu observed astutely.

“Brilliant observation, Holmes. I’m afraid we’re going to have to bring you up to speed on a lot of stuff.”

“I understood that reference!” Suluu chirped excitedly. “Sherlock Holmes, written by Sir Arther Conan Doyle, initially published in-”

“Someone’s coming,” Peter whispered. They were a ways away still, but he could hear their footsteps headed towards the kitchen. “Hide!”

And there Peter stood awkwardly as Nathalie entered the kitchen, already dressed up in her suit for the day, her hair pulled back in its usual style.

“May I ask what you’re doing in the kitchen at this hour, Mr. Parker?” Her tone suggested she really didn’t want to know but conveyed a sense of disappointment nonetheless.

“I was…making soup.” Peter showed her the empty pot for inspection. “I got a bit peckish and soup was really the only thing that could satisfy my cravings so…?”

“You got ‘peckish’ at five-thirty in the morning?”

Peter met her cold stare, grinning at her with undertones of a challenge. What was she going to do, stop him? He’d already made the soup. “Yes.”

“Very well.” She turned and left, her heels clicking slightly as she walked away.

 _What died and crawled up her nasal canal?_ Peter thought bitterly. Out loud, he whispered to Suluu, “sorry, that’s the lady who works for the bitch dad who tortures the other boy who lives here.”

“She doesn’t seem the nicest,” Suluu admitted, flying out into the open once more. “But I’m sure everyone is capable of love, even the ‘bitch dad’.”

“Haven’t you been kept captive literally all your life?” Peter glanced at her sideways as he cleaned up the dishes. “And watched everyone who was good die before your very eyes?”

“I like to think that unbridled optimism is the best attitude to have,” Suluu said. “Although I do regret my past and how people have used me. But now I have a reason to have hope. You’re different than all the rest, Peter, I can sense it.”

“Just like I could sense you,” Peter realized. “I broke into that old guy’s house one time, and I could feel that pull. And then you were in front of me and it hit me like a train. Once you transformed me, it felt like the whole world was brand new. So I guess we’re sensing each other.”

“Your Spiderman sense!” Suluu squealed. “This is so exciting that you’ve already got powers! If you were to combine both Helios and Spiderman…Peter you’d be unstoppable.”

“I know,” Peter said. “But sometimes it’s good to be stopped. When the moment comes, I’ll combine you and my suit together, but I don’t think that’ll be for awhile now. Right now, all I have to do is get ready for school. I’ll download you a lesson on slang or something so you can listen to it throughout the day, I’ve got headphones somewhere in my bag upstairs.”

“Exciting!” Suluu cheered. “This is all such a rush!”

“We’ll swing by the bakery right now, before Adrien gets up. I usually grab a cinnamon bun for breakfast,” Peter said. “It’ll blow your tiny mind, if you’ve got one of those.”

“I have a mind! A brain is questionable, though.”

“I don’t doubt it, Su. I really don’t.”

* * *

“Please inform our guest that he should wait until a reasonable hour before commencing any sort of culinary action,” Nathalie said stiffly. She’d woken Adrien up from a deep slumber, one that probably would have cause him to be late to school if it weren’t for her interruption.

“Culinary what?” Adrien blinked, sitting up in bed. “Who?”

“Mr. Parker was making soup in the kitchen at five thirty this morning.”

Adrien had never pictured Peter as the sort to cook at all. He seemed like he would sooner burn toast than whip up a full meal at such an ungodly hour. “Are you sure he wasn’t sleep walking?”

“Adrien, you’ll never guess what I got us!” The chef himself chose that moment to stroll into Adrien’s room, holding a brown paper bag that Adrien recognized instantly as belonging to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

“And what’s that, Mr. Parker?” Nathalie honed in on him like a hawk as Peter shoved the bag behind his back.

“I got us…a MST!” Peter chirped cheerfully, giving her a beaming smile. Both Adrien and Nathalie gaped at him. For once Gabriel’s stern assistant truly seemed to be at a loss for words.

“An…STD?” Adrien said slowly, in English, so Peter could realize what he’d said.

Peter nodded slowly, eyes widening slightly as enlightenment dawned on him. “Oh great, my acronym was taken, it appears. Welp, I actually meant it to stand for merveilleux sourire toujours, my bad. Smiles are good, always.” He gave them both finger guns, clicking his tongue.

“Peter, that makes literally zero sense,” Adrien resisted the urge to facepalm.

“Yeah, that’s because I made it up on the spot. I heard some guy on the street talking on his phone about MST’s and I thought it was something good.”

“Why would you think that was something good?”

“Because social cues are not my forte and everyone here talks the same whether they’re angry or happy.”

“Okayyyyy,” Adrien sighed.

“I will send you today’s itinerary before you leave for school,” Nathalie said curtly, giving Peter a withering stare as she left the room.

“That was way awkward.” Peter shook his head. “But I brought cinnamon buns, that was what I was going to say before I panicked.”

“You’re not very good at improv,” Adrien commented, running a hand through his hair as he got up. “Also Nathalie wanted me to ask you not to make soup at five in the morning ever again.”

“That was a misunderstanding,” Peter said. “I didn’t know the kitchen was off-limits at a certain time.”

“My dad doesn’t like people wandering around the house. There’s a bunch of rooms even I’m not allowed in.”

“Why? That makes me want to go there all the more,” Peter tried to lean against the wall and slipped, stumbling backwards before regaining his balance. “I have been up way too long and I’m already tired.”

“I can tell,” Adrien laughed. “And no, you can’t go snooping around the house. That’s a recipe for trouble.”

Peter looked like he was about to argue, but then his phone rang. “This is work, I’ll be right back.”

He left the room for a few moments, giving Adrien enough time to get ready for the day. Peter’s call was taken in hushed tones, obviously something confidential. Not that Adrien was listening. Not that he desperately wanted to know what the Stark intern got up to. Not at all. In fact, Adrien respected Peter’s privacy immensely, and that was precisely why he totally _didn’t_ have his ear pressed against his wall, straining for snippets of Peter’s conversation in the next room.

“You realize this is a horrible idea, right?” Plagg zipped out from beneath Adrien’s pillows, hovering next to him.

“Shhh! I can’t hear what he’s saying!”

“You couldn’t hear what he was saying before I started talking. Nothing has changed.”

“Go eat cheese.” Plagg was more than happy to comply.

“Bye, I love you. I mean! Bye!” Adrien heard Peter’s voice, suddenly loud and in Adrien’s doorway. Adrien leapt backwards from the wall, backing into his foosball table, falling to the ground.

“Dude what were you _doing_?” Peter asked, sliding his phone into his pocket as Adrien stood up.

“I was listening for rats in the wall,” Adrien nodded, hoping he sounded convincing. “That’s a very common issue here. Really big rats just…you know. Living in the walls.”

“Oh boy do I ever know. We had a rat infestation at my aunt’s apartment one time. Woke up one morning and a rat had chewed its way straight through my shirt and probably my skin too, now that I think about it.”

“Peter, what the hell.” Adrien walked past him, grabbing his school bag as he went. “Do you have a single normal story from your life in New York?”

“Lemme think,” Peter said, humming for a moment as he followed Adrien. “Nope! Not in the slightest. Also I have to go back this weekend for work.”

“Back to New York?” Adrien stopped in his tracks as they reached the bottom of the steps. “Permanently?”

“No! For a weekend, Adri. Two days. I leave Friday evening, come back Sunday. Don’t worry, I’ll bring back a really ugly shirt for you.”

“Great,” Adrien rolled his eyes, climbing into the car. It was a fairly silent ride to school, and Peter seemed slightly preoccupied with his thoughts. Adrien couldn’t help but wonder who he’d been saying ‘I love you’ to over the phone. Peter had never mentioned having a girlfriend.

They found themselves standing outside in the foggy weather, waiting for classes to start. There was no sign of Nino, Marinette, or Alya, so the duo stood in relative silence.

“Who’s that?” Peter nudged him slightly, nodding at a dude across the courtyard.

“That?” Adrien squinted. “Oh that’s Roland. He’s a grade above us.” He turned, walking into the school, searching for his textbook in his bag. He’d sworn he’d put it in there….

“I would let him _rail_ me,” Peter said very matter-of-fact-ly and Adrien choked.

“I’m sorry?” Adrien managed through his coughing fit.

“Seriously?” Peter raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms in a challenging manner. “Bro, I cuff my jeans everyday. Every time someone says something I don’t know how to respond to, I give them either finger guns or a peace sign. I literally thought you’d figured it out by now, given that you were the one who bought me Doc Martens.”

What on earth was he talking about? Wait a minute….

“Oh my god, how did I not realize you’re bi,” Adrien laughed. “I feel like an idiot. Wait…” A thought had just occurred to him. Spiderman also did finger guns and peace signs quite a bit, now that he thought about it. Did that mean that Spidey was…? Spiderman was Peter’s colleague…. Peter had taken a work call then said he loved the other person at the end of the call. Were Spidey and Peter…?

“Wait, what?”

“Are you dating Spiderman?” Adrien blurted. Peter just stared at him, unresponsive. “Sorry, that was an awkward question, I just heard you saying that you loved whoever you were talking to this morning and I kind of connected the dots. I won’t tell anyone, I swear!”

“Did I ever say I was dating Spiderman? Did I ever say that?”

“No, but you don’t have to hide it from me, Peter, I can keep a secret.” Nowhere in Adrien’s mind did it occur to him that he might be incorrect.

“It sounds like you were given a connect the dots sheet for a duck and you wound up with the CN Tower. Adrien, I am not-”

“Hey guys! What are we talking about?” Alya walked up, slinging an arm across Peter’s shoulders. 

“How I’m _not_ dating anyone,” Peter said, giving Adrien a meaningful look. “And honestly I might never. I could die next week, you never know.” He was _so_ dating Spiderman. Now that Adrien was thinking about it, he could see how similar they were. They’d be the perfect match, truly.

“I’m glad to see you’re doing alright after the car accident,” Alya said. “I thought you went to the hospital.”

“The _car accident_?” Adrien said, all thoughts of Peter and Spiderman flying right out of his head. “What car accident?”

“You didn’t tell him?” Alya said. “Peter got hit by a car yesterday!”

“I did not get ‘hit by a car’ yesterday,” Peter made quotation marks with his fingers. “A car gently wedged me between its front bumper and a bus. I’m fine, obviously. New topic, please.”

“Marinette said she thought Peter had died it was so bad,” Alya whispered to Adrien, like Peter wasn’t even there. He just folded his arms, giving her a sarcastic expression that didn’t really look as demeaning as he probably intended it to be. It came off more pouty.

“Well I didn’t die, surprise! You can’t kill me. For all you know, I’m the next Keanu Reeves. Immortal.” Peter’s tone was confident, but his eyes betrayed him. Adrien could’ve sworn he saw a flicker of genuine discomfort. He didn’t know what had gone down the other day, but obviously Peter didn’t want to talk about it. His friend had survived, that was the important part.

“That’s literally so crazy. Let’s get to class,” Adrien said quickly. Peter shot him a thankful yet confused glance before nodding his head in agreement.

“Oh wait, Peter, you have to come to the mall with me and Marinette after school,” Alya interjected.

“Me? Why me?”

“Because we need a male’s opinion,” Alya glanced quickly at Adrien, then back at Peter. “And you’ve obviously got an eye for fashion.”

“You’re aware that Adrien forces me to wear Agreste label clothes and literally picks them out for me, right?”

“It’s true,” Adrien offered as they headed to class. “The last purchase Peter made for himself was the ugliest shirt I’ve ever seen.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad.” Alya frowned.

“I’ve got a picture!” Peter said, pulling out his phone to proudly show Alya a photo.

“I rescind my previous statement.”

“See!” Adrien grinned, entering the classroom just as the bell rang. He and Peter slid into their seats, pulling out their tablets, ready for a day of learning and education. Luckily he didn’t have to learn for long, as Mme. Bustier quickly informed them that they had an assembly first thing.

“Sweet, I love assemblies!” Nino cheered, turning to grin at Adrien. “This is the drug one, so it’ll probably last the whole day.”

“All day?” Peter stared at Nino like he’d just told him his dog had died. “All day to talk about medicine?”

“That’s not quite what it’s about-” Adrien began to explain to Peter precisely what sort of drugs the presentation would be on, but was interrupted by the principal entering the room, telling them to head down to the auditorium.

“Hi Adrien!” Marinette greeted Adrien as they walked down the hallways. It was one of the first times he’d heard her address him without stammering, tripping, or injuring herself or others around her. Even Peter looked impressed.

“Hey Marinette!” He gave her a warm smile in return. If this was her coming out of her shell, Adrien was glad. Whenever he’d visited her as Chat Noir, she was always so much more fun and confident than her usual self. Maybe now he’d get to meet that side of Marinette.

With their luck, they were seated in the very front row. The front row was the worst spot in the whole auditorium. You couldn’t go on your phones or space out because the presenter was always _right there_. But Adrien had developed a talent for disassociating after all his years of modelling. It was a difficult and noble art to look engaged while letting one’s mind wander. One that he was surely about to put to practice.

“How do presentations here usually go?” Peter whispered as the lights in the room dimmed, lighting up the stage. “Are the presenters usually like, boring or smart or funny or-”

“DRUGS!” The presenter in question marched out onto the stage, gripping his mic like it owed him money and screaming the word so loud, everyone jumped and covered their ears. “I am Louis, and I’m here to talk to you today about drugs.” He paced frantically around the stage before coming right up to the very edge. Right where Adrien, Peter, and Marinette were sitting. That was never a good sign.

“What do you, young man, think of drugs?” Louis said aggressively, thrusting his mic out to Peter who took it hesitantly.

“I think,” Peter said, pausing as feedback screeched over the speakers. “I think drugs are necessary and they’ve come a long way in the past few years. Now that we’ve got a better understanding of how everything in the body and in our environment works, we’ve really figured out how to make drugs work to our advantage without having them kill us prematurely.”

Oh no, Adrien had forgotten to explain to Peter that the presentation was about drugs drugs, not the medicinal sort. And judging by good old Louis’s expression, things were not off to a good start.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Peter Parker,” Peter answered honestly, turning around and waving to the crowd. The crowd was currently howling with laughter at the turn of events, but Peter seemed thoroughly unfazed.

“Okay Peter, you’re pro-drugs?”

“Of course! Drugs are great, I love them.”

“Are you aware of all the negative effects drugs have?” Louis challenged poor, blissful Peter who was either ignoring or oblivious to Adrien’s attempts to get his attention.

“Yeah, but the good outweighs the bad, don’t you think?” Peter smiled innocently at Louis, who seemed about two seconds away from losing his mind. 

“They’re drugs! They’re horrible! Drugs _ruined_ my life!”

“It’s not like they’re expensive here,” Peter shrugged. “Back where I live, man, insulin can cost hundreds of dollars. It’s insane.”

“Are you mocking me? I lost my family to drugs!” The presenter slammed his hands on both armrests of Peter’s chair.

“I feel like there’s been a misunderstanding,” Peter said slowly, apparently finally clueing in to what was going on. “I’m talking about prescription drugs.”

“I’m talking about prescription drugs too! Like Xanax!”

“I’m talking about like…Levothyroxine. I do not think we’re on the same page here.”

The presenter’s eyes were wild and crazed as he grabbed Peter by the shoulders and tried to shake him. Peter didn’t budge. “Is that what they’re calling heroin nowadays?”

“No, it’s synthetically produced thyroxine to help combat hypothyroidism?” The crowd was out of control at this point, and several cellphone cameras were on and pointed at the spectacle.

“Peter is not fluent in French,” Adrien decided that was the moment to chime in and break up the fun little dynamic Peter and the presenter had going on before someone got hurt. “He doesn’t realize that this is a presentation about the dangers of street drugs, not about the perks of the pharmaceutical industry.”

A moment passed, and both Peter and the presenter stared at each other before Louis slowly released Peter’s shoulders, stepping backwards. “Where are you from again?”

“America,” Peter deadpanned. “I’ve been told my accent gives it away.”

The rest of the presentation was nothing short of awkward. Louis seemed thoroughly embarrassed that he’d lost his mind at a sixteen year old who barely understood what was going on and Adrien had to hold back laughter at his perpetually disgruntled expression.

“That was an absolute disaster, why didn’t you interrupt sooner?” Peter glared at Adrien as they filed out of the classroom at the end of the day.

“I wanted to see what would happen.” Adrien shrugged, ignoring the way Peter rolled his eyes at his honesty. “Aren’t you going to the mall now?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I am. And you’re not invited.” Peter crossed his arms over his chest, doing his best to maintain a miffed air.

“I know you’re joking, but that kinda hurts,” Adrien clutched a hand to his chest, pretending he’d been shot. “To think that they don’t want me, a model, there….”

“I’m only dropping the charade because I know you’re genuinely hurt about this,” Peter said, once again proving just how well he knew Adrien. “But trust me, you don’t want to go. Alya’s going shopping for like, bras and stuff. It’s not going to be a fun time.”

“How do you know? All she said was she wanted you to come to the mall with her. Cited that she needs a, quote, ‘male’s gaze’, end quote.”

“Okay, I’m going to walk you through the thought process,” Peter said slowly. “For starters, Alya asks me to go to the mall with her. Usually that’s something she would do with Nino, her boyfriend, or Marinette, her best friend. This time it’s her and Marinette going, but she wants a male opinion, yet she doesn’t automatically go to Nino. Meaning it’s something she needs a brotherly figure to tag along for. And no offence man, but you’re a literal model and you make everyone insecure.”

“Aren’t you literally ripped?” Adrien peered at Peter suspiciously, who veered away from his gaze.

“I work out on occasion. But I’ll see you later. Try not to get into too much trouble while I’m gone helping them decide between a corset style or pushup or whatever the fuck.”

“The fact that you know there’s different styles leads me to believe you know more than you let on.”

“I always know more than I let on, Adrien.” Peter winked, shooting him finger guns before running to catch up with the others. His statement had been innocent, but the mere suggestion that Adrien didn’t know the full extent of his knowledge was nearly enough to freak Adrien out. Just a tiny bit. There was no way that Peter knew about his…extracurricular activities, was there?

“So. Horrible,” Peter lamented when he returned to the Agreste household around dinner. Adrien had been sitting at the table, considering whether or not he should text Ladybug and ask to hangout that night. He was exhausted but it felt like it’d been an eternity since he’d seen her. 

“Bra shopping?” Adrien asked. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t mildly curious about what went down, but judging by Peter’s expression, nothing interesting had occurred.

“No, all the gossip. I can never look at any of our classmates the same again, and now I know all their names. And all their relationship statuses. And every personal detail the two girls could remember.”

“What did they say about me?” Adrien wiggled his eyebrows at Peter who made a face of disgust.

“Okay for starters, never do that again. Secondly, we didn’t mention you once.”

“Makes sense,” Adrien agreed willingly. He was trying to text Ladybug under the table while not taking his eyes off Peter.

“I can literally see you fumbling with your phone and it looks like it is not going well.”

“I struggle with basic tasks,” Adrien agreed. “I’ve got to take a shower, see you at dinner?”

“For sure,” Peter agreed. “I’d offer to make soup, but apparently that’s not widely accepted by all members of this household.”

Adrien quickly disappeared into his bedroom, doing his best to craft the perfect message to sort-of-not-really ask Ladybug out.

“What am I supposed to say?” He asked Plagg, a generally unwise choice.

“‘Dear Ladybug, I say your name in my sleep constantly. I have a stalker-ish amount of photos of you on my phone. I should go to jail.’ That sounds like a real captivating conversation starter,” Plagg said, placing his tiny hands on his non-existent hips.

“That was terrible.”

“Well what do you have so far, Shakespeare, if my silver tongue is not good enough for you?” Plagg was right. Adrien had literally no idea what he was doing and his hands were clammy. Flirting was so much easier when he knew she would just rebuff him each time. Now that she might actually say yes, Adrien was about three seconds away from a full scale freak out.

“I’m gonna ask Spiderman.”

“Sure, ask Spiderman,” Plagg replied in a mocking tone. “Since Spiderman has all the answers.”

“You’re just jealous that he’s smarter than you. Plus, you should be glad that I’m going to him for relationship advice. You don’t have to listen to me complain anymore.”

“Correct! Ask Spiderman.” Plagg’s tone perked up instantly as he zoomed off.

[ hey Spidey I need some help ]

**[ yeah, what’s up Chat? ]**

[ I want to ask Ladybug to hangout with me tonight ]

[ and I’m kind of freaking out right now ]

[ it’s dumb I know ]

[ but I could really use some suggestions of what to text her ]

**[ precisely how strong do we want to come on with this? ]**

Adrien had to think about it for a second. He usually came on strong, but should this be a casual affair? When they’d kissed (currently the greatest thing Adrien had ever experienced) he’d been coming on _very_ strong.

[ gimme a bit of both ]

**[ alrighty here goes ]**

**[ my lady, my sun, my moon, all the stars in the sky and the ground beneath my feet, I so greatly crave your company… ]**

**[ how’s that so far ]**

[ poetic, but I feel like it’s a bit too much ]

**[ Roger that. I’ll make it like ten times more chill ]**

**[ I know we don’t have patrol tonight, but I’d really like to see you. Can we meet at our usual spot at nine? ]**

[ Spidey that’s genius ]

[ I mean you are technically a genius so I shouldn’t be surprised ]

**[ shut up Chat ]**

**[ just go get her, tiger ]**

[ thank youuuuuuuuu ]

Adrien quickly exited the chat, opening the one with his Lady. He copied Spiderman’s message down, hitting send before he could second-guess himself.

“I did it, Plagg. I technically sort of asked Ladybug out.”

“You didn’t do anything. I watched Spidey tell you exactly what to say.”

“Okay, but I hit send and that’s the hard part. And I did it all in a very non-stalkerish way.” He paced back and forth, gesturing wildly. There was no way he was going to make it through the evening.

“That’s up for debate.”

Adrien was a ball of nerves all through dinner, constantly checking his phone. Ladybug had yet to respond, his message still left on delivered.

“Hey man, are you okay?” Adrien’s behaviour did not go unnoticed by Peter, who was peering at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

“I’m so okay. I’m just being chill. Super chill, super cool. The usual.” It was a miracle Adrien didn’t stammer his way through the sentence.

“Sure.” Peter didn’t look like he bought it. “If you want, we can watch this really old movie after dinner, it’s called Lord of the Rings. It might help keep your mind off things.”

“Alright,” Adrien concurred. He needed something to keep him distracted, irregardless if Ladybug texted back or not.

And that’s how he found himself watching a nearly three hour long movie after dinner. It wasn’t necessarily the most gripping of storylines, and Peter had to explain most of it to him, but it helped take his attention away from his phone. That was until she responded at precisely eight thirty-nine.

Her text was simple, straight to the point, and entirely Ladybug.

**[ Sure. See you then ]**

“Okay, as much as I loved this movie, so so much, I’m really tired and I think I should go to bed right now.” Adrien whipped around to look at Peter, his eyes wide. He was obviously not tired in the slightest, but Peter took mercy on his terrible excuse.

“Yeah of course. It’s been a bit of a day for all of us, I understand if you want to turn in early. Goodnight Adrien.” He waved as Adrien exited the room. Peter was always so understanding and sweet and it killed Adrien to lie to him. But he could see what Spiderman had seen in him, that was for sure.

Adrien was early to the meeting spot. Plagg had complained about having to transform him but Adrien had eventually won him over, promising him he’d look into finding a Camembert cheese fountain.

“Stupid cat, I only ever said I would _look_ for a cheese fountain, I never made any promises about buying one,” Adrien chuckled to himself in the night air.

“What?” She’d been sneaky and he hadn’t even heard Ladybug land behind him. But now he turned to look at her and his breath caught in his throat. She was so beautiful, the moonlight hitting her perfectly, her hair jet black and shiny in the night. Her blue eyes held all the stars and the night sky as she looked at him, and Adrien felt like his heart was going to burst.

“You came,” he whispered, barely believing it himself. A small part of himself still believed that their kiss had been a dream, one so realistic it seemed like a memory.

“Of course I did, I said I would.” She stepped closer, standing directly in front of him.

“Just to clarify, this is real, right? I didn’t imagine…,” Adrien’s voice trailed off and he waved a hand between the two of them, uncertain of how what to say. Didn’t imagine us? Didn’t imagine the kiss?

“Didn’t imagine what, minou?”

“The, uh, the…?” It was official, he’d officially short circuited. Where was that witty, Chat Noir persona when he needed him?

“The kiss?” Ladybug said innocently, looking up at him with bashful eyes as he failed to formulate words. “If it was fake, would I do this right now?”

She stood up on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his, oh-so gently. And Adrien was officially a dead man. His brain had blown up, leaving him with no thoughts and no ability to move. When she pulled back, staring up at him once again, all Adrien could do was stand there and gaze at her, completely slack-jawed.

“Where’s the confident kitty from earlier?” She teased.

“He’s unable to come to the phone right now. Can I take a message? His brain has kind of been melted by a super hot girl.” It was a wonder he’d managed to say even that.

Thankfully Ladybug laughed, slinging her arms around his neck. Nope, it definitely wasn’t helping having her in such close proximity. “Just tell him that his Lady is looking for him. She came all this way just to see him, it’d be a shame if he was unavailable.”

 _Oh my god, she called herself your Lady,_ his brain was screaming. _This is NOT a drill. Quick, do something! Anything!_

Adrien let out the shakiest laugh he’d ever heard himself make before hitting her with a super-suave response. “Heyyyyy.” Since when did she get the upper hand?

“You caught me off guard last time,” Ladybug trailed a hand down his chest. “But don’t worry, it won’t happen again. No holding back here.” She raised a single eyebrow and it was his undoing.

He leaned down, kissing her with as much confidence as he could muster. It probably wasn’t one of his better kisses, but he really honestly couldn’t formulate proper sentences and he felt bad just standing there. Plus kissing Ladybug was like heaven on earth. She was an angel; him a mere, undeserving mortal. And there was no place he’d rather be than in her arms.

“Is that all you called me here to do?” Ladybug asked when he finally came up for air. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“No, it’s actually not,” Adrien said, forgetting to elaborate. He was too busy staring at her, committing her face to memory in case he woke up and it turned out she was just a dream.

“Earth to Chat!” She waved a gloved hand in front of his face, bringing him back to the present.

“Yes? Oh, sorry. I was just…,” Adrien took a deep breath, shaking himself out. He could do this. “Willyougooutwithmeonadatelikeadatedatetoacafeoraresaurantoraparkorsomething?”

“Sorry?” Ladybug blinked.

“Will you go out with me?” Adrien managed, swallowing hard. “I was talking to Spiderman the other day, and he was in civilian’s clothes overtop of his suit and no one even recognized him. And it got me thinking that maybe _we_ could do that, and then I could take you out on a real date, where we wouldn’t have to meet in the middle of the night?” He looked at her hopefully.

“Chat, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” _Rats._ Adrien was defeated. He slid down the nearest chimney, sitting on the ground and pouting like a child who’d been denied a cookie.

“I knew you’d say that. But I’m telling you, Spiderman is more famous than we are, and no one recognized him. And I mean no one. It was a miracle.”

Ladybug took a seat beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just I’m not sure that going public with this relationship is the best thing for us.”

“A relationship!?!?” Adrien squealed, turning to look at her so fast he almost got whiplash, the pout far gone from his face now.

“I mean,” Ladybug suddenly looked…shy? “If that’s what you want to call it?”

“One hundred percent yes.” Adrien took both her hands in his. “Literally whatever you want to call it. As long as there’s a me and you, I couldn’t care less about the label you give it.”

“You’re sweet.” She rubbed her thumbs over the backs of his hands. “But I’m worried if we go public with it, people will question our ability to protect the city. Not to mention how the press would react, and the Ladyblog has some sort of bet going about whether or not we’ll get together….”

“Oh yeah, I am a regular better on that,” Adrien admitted. “Every time we worked together and something between us would happen, I’d place another bet. The bigger the thing, the more money I put in. Needless to say, after our kiss, I bet one hundred euros. I’ve probably spent around four hundred at this point.”

“Oh my god, Chat.” Ladybug laughed, shaking her head. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I was right, in the end.” He winked at her. “But I am kind of sad that I can’t take you out on a proper date. I mean, I really want this to be perfect for you. Any time spent with you is perfect for me, but I know you’re not really as crazy about me as I am for you yet, which is fine, so I really want to woo you like a proper gentleman.”

“Chat, you don’t have to do that. I like us just the way we are.” She shuffled closer to him, curling up against him and snuggling against his chest. “Plus, we can still hangout at night on the rooftops. It’s not that bad, when you think about it.”

“You’re right.” Adrien agreed, wrapping his arms around her. “Tomorrow, I’ll set something up for after patrol. Sure, it won’t be any fancy restaurant or whatever, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Was that an acceptable amount of talking?” Adrien asked. “Because I’d really like to kiss you again but I don’t want to cut you off if you still had more to say.”

Ladybug hummed, tapping a finger to her chin like she was pretending to think. “Nah, I think that was enough conversation. I’m honestly impressed you made it this long.”

“It was hard,” Adrien laughed. This time, his kiss was gentle, patient. She was real, and she wasn’t going to leave him. She’d said they had a relationship, that they’d become an ‘us’. There was quite literally no way he could love his Lady more than he did in that moment and would forever more. Adrien didn’t have the guts to say any of that to her directly, instead kissing her harder in the hopes she’d get his message. And if the way her arms tightened around him was any indicator, she did.

“Ch-at,” she finally singsonged after god knows how long, pulling away from him and tapping him on the nose. “We both have school tomorrow, kitty.”

“Who cares about school?” Adrien nuzzled his face into her neck. “Any moment not spent with you is time wasted.”

“Well I’m tired.”

“I’m not.” As if to prove his point, he nipped lightly at her ear. She stilled slightly, as if considering, before her stubborn streak won over and she stood up. Adrien groaned, slumping his shoulders in defeat as she grabbed her yoyo, preparing to leave.

“Save some of that energy for tomorrow,” she gave him a smile that caused Adrien’s whole world to light up. Of course, he had to plan the most perfect, clandestine date ever in less than twenty-four hours.

“It’ll truly be a night to remember, My Lady.”

* * *

“Can you hack into something for me, please?” Marinette more or less slammed her laptop down next to poor Peter, who had accepted her invite to meet her early at the school. He’d been sitting on a bench, nibbling at a cinnamon bun while watching pigeons dance around, but he now turned to face her, evidently to see why she’d felt the need to murder her computer.

“Is that what you called me here for?” He looked up at her, raising one eyebrow.

“Well, given that you saw me in my underwear yesterday,” Marinette shivered at the memory. Alya had brought Peter along on their shopping trip for reasons she had yet to disclose, and it had been an awkward time all around. Alya had insisted that Peter pass judgement like a panel of judges at a swimming contest, and had even brought a notebook so he could give a score out of ten. “I figure we’re trauma bonded now. So I figured I could trust you enough to have you hack into the Ladyblog for me.”

“Why do you need me to hack into the Ladyblog? I’m ignoring the underwear comment.” Peter took her laptop, turning it towards himself. Marinette herself didn’t precisely know why she wanted Peter to hack into it. Chat’s comment about the betting had gotten her brain’s gears turning. She could easily find out his identity if Peter did his…hacker stuff and figured out who’d bet four hundred euros that Ladybug and Chat Noir would get together. The betting usernames and amounts were public, but as she’d suspected, Chat went by an alias. LadybugLover, to be exact.

“I need you to tell me who LadybugLover is,” she said, planting her hands firmly on her hips. “For personal reasons.”

“I can tell you their IP address?” Peter suggested, typing away.

“Will that tell me their name?”

“Maybe. Never mind, they’re using a VPN. Secure connection. It could take me a bit of time to figure out who they are. Not saying it’s impossible, but without my access to the Stark database, it would definitely take a few days.”

“Can you get access to the Stark database and figure it out?” Marinette sat beside him, looking at the small crease forming in his brow.

“Why’s this so important to you?” Peter asked, thumb casually running along the USB port. “Oh, I see.”

“What?” Marinette had no idea what he was talking about, and now she was scared that he’d figured it out. “What did you do?”

“This is Chat Noir, and if you figure out who is behind the account, you find out his true identity,” Peter said simply. “No can do, Marinette. Protecting superhero identities is my job.”

“ _How_ did you do that? Do you know who he is now?”

“Nope. I respect people’s privacy. I solved for the missing variable. Get it? Like putting two and two together except the missing variable was your motivation to get the information?” He grinned at her. Marinette couldn’t do anything but blink.

“You know what, you’re right,” she decided, reaching over and closing her laptop’s lid, sliding it back into her bag. “I shouldn’t be trying to figure out who he is.” What had even come over her? Things were finally going good for her and Chat, and here she was trying to ruin it for herself by hunting for his real identity. It was just the look on his face, when he’d told her that he wanted to take her on a real date, that had gotten her thinking. Longing, even, to know who was behind the mask. And that was dangerous. She couldn’t afford to think like that. It was for their own safety that their identities remained secret.

 _He’d tell you who he was if you asked him,_ her own thoughts betrayed her. It was true, Chat would tell her in a heartbeat. But then he’d expect her to reveal herself in turn and Ladybug just wasn’t ready to take that step. Neither was Marinette.

Because as soon as she revealed her civilian self, Chat Noir would realize that he’d made a mistake, that he wasn’t really in love with her. Marinette and Ladybug couldn’t be more different if they tried.

“Marinette? Are you okay?” Peter was still sitting there, watching her face morph along with the tumult of her thoughts.

“I’m great Peter. Sorry for wasting your time.”

“Hey, that’s what friends are for. You can waste my time anytime.” How was he always so understanding? Marinette would pay real money to see him mad. Almost subconsciously, her gaze dropped to his ankle, and her heart skipped at what she saw. A ruby anklet, secured snugly and just visible below the cuff of his jeans. Peter Parker had the phoenix miraculous. Meaning his kwami was nearby. Meaning Master Fu had managed to give it up after all.

Annnnddd she was staring. And Peter had noticed.

“You like my anklet?” He put his foot up on the bench, pulling up the hem of his pants so she could see it better. “My friend Ned got it for me. He’s always trying to do ‘bro stuff’, even more now that we’re halfway across the world from each other. And at first I was like ‘dang this totally isn’t my style’ but then I realized that the clothes I’m wearing aren’t even my style! So why not just add an anklet along with it!” He grinned at her, his lie seemingly oddly natural. In fact, Marinette wished he’d been bad at lying. Hell, she knew the truth and now she was thinking about how generous it was of Ned to get Peter such a nice anklet.

Why was he so good at lying? Had he lied about anything else?

Marinette hadn’t realized she was standing, peering closely at him, until Adrien walked up. Other students were starting to arrive, and Marinette had officially wasted their hacking time.

“Uh, can I ask what’s going on here?”

“Adrien!” Marinette yelled, stumbling backwards and tripping over the bench, arms windmilling. The two boys watched her fall.

“I was just showing Mari this sick ass anklet my friend Ned got me,” Peter slapped his calf. “This bad boy is a chick magnet!”

“Bro! It looks so cool!” Adrien bent down to properly inspect it as Peter raved about how great Ned was.

“The little sneak!” Marinette whispered to Tikki as she rifled through her locker. “He’s lying through his teeth!”

“Marinette, you lie all the time,” Tikki sighed. “Plus, he’s just preserving his identity. You can’t fault him for being good at it.”

“How often does he lie? It seemed so natural!”

“Maybe he’s just good at hiding his emotions. Aren’t both his parents dead?”

“They’re WHAT!?” Marinette said a little too loud, and everyone in the near vicinity turned to her in surprise.

Tikki winced as Marinette mumbled some apologies. “I guess you didn’t know. I heard Pl- some people talking about it. It’s kind of a tragic story, so I’ll spare you the details.”

“Oh my god I had no idea. I’m the worst person ever.”

“No, don’t think like that! Just go easy on Peter. Everyone’s fighting their own battles.”

“Do you think Adrien knows?” Marinette said, closing her locker and turning to head to class.

“Know what?” And there was Adrien himself! What a great coincidence. Well, no sense lying now.

“Did you know that Peter’s parents are dead?” Marinette whispered, thoroughly ashamed of herself for even gossiping about such things.

“Yes,” Adrien said sincerely. “It was one of the first things I learned about him. Might be one of the reasons we’re so close. He knows what it’s like to lose people, and I’d never met someone who understood-” Adrien choked slightly on his words. Was he…tearing up?

“He might be the only one who gets me,” Adrien managed, blinking away whatever tears had been trying to form. “It’s kind of funny how life sends the right people your way just when you need them most, isn’t it? Ever since Peter showed up, everything’s been going right. He’s like a brother to me now. You get it, don’t you?”

And Marinette did. Adrien had seemed so much happier since Peter had come into their lives. He was becoming more confident, and happier. She hadn’t noticed how serious he’d been until he suddenly wasn’t.

“I’m happy for you, Adrien. I really am.” She gave him a sad smile and he returned it.

“Thank you. I just hope that Peter feels the same.”

“He does,” Marinette said. “When we were shopping together yesterday, you were all he talked about. I mean, you and Spiderman. And that day when you were at the photo shoot and starving? He had the idea to call Spiderman and ask him to take you food, because it would take too long for him to go on his own. He cares so much about you, Adrien. He got hit by a _car_ and his first instinct was to keep going so he could get you your food.”

Adrien’s eyes were sparkling, and Marinette could see the happiness in his features. She’d never seen him look like that, at least not while she was Marinette. And once upon a time, she may have been jealous that someone else was making him that happy, but now even the sheer notion of that was ridiculous. As long as he was happy, as long as he kept smiling like that, she didn’t care who the source of it was. Adrien and Peter deserved each other; someone who was there for them when the rest of the world couldn’t be.

“There you two are!” Alya’s voice interrupted the lull in conversation as she poked her head into the locker room. “Class started ten minutes ago, everyone’s wondering where you are! Peter even started a betting pool.”

“Of course he did,” Adrien grinned at Marinette. “What did he think we were doing?”

“Well most people thought you two were kissing, a few thought you were fighting, but he said you were talking…about his…dead parents?”

“Boy wonder strikes again,” Adrien shook his head.

Alya blinked. “You mean to tell me I just lost fifty bucks to Parker? Ugh! Why couldn’t you two have just been kissing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, the more I post on here, the more this turns into Genie’s Verbal Stomping Ground but happy one month of this fic!!! Crazy to think that I’ve written 90k words and over 200 pages in that amount of time, but a huge thank you to everyone who’s along for the ride :) Y’all mean so much to me <3333 
> 
> See you all next week!


	10. Le Rendez-Vous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A completely accurate summary of Romeo and Juliet, Pixar’s “Cars”, and two guys just vibing talking about being superheroes and other normal dude stuff 
> 
> And with that vague and inaccurate summary out of the way, hope you enjoy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let’s just ignore the fact that I had this all done and ready to post yesterday and I straight up just didn’t. I have no excuse other than the fact that I’m the worst :) But I’m back and I brought Ladynoir so can you really even be mad? 
> 
> As always, you can see artwork I’ve done relating to the story here: https://pin.it/59KsGoy

Marinette was practically vibrating throughout the rest of the school day. Chat was obviously planning _something_ for after patrols that night, but she had no idea what. For all she knew, he could be planning to go explore the sewers like he’d suggested before. She knew Chat could be romantic when he felt like it, but it was a toss-up of whether his rambunctious side would overpower his inner Casanova or not.

He sent her a single text once school let out for the day, a simple winking emoji. It was most likely foreshadowing what was to come, but she couldn’t ask Alya about it. She’d ask far too many questions.

“Wanna hang out?” Peter jogged up beside her, both hands gripping his backpack, a massive smile on his face. He’d acquired copious amounts of money from their disgruntled classmates from winning the bet and he’d been positively glowing all day.

“Is Adrien busy?” Marinette asked, surprised. Peter and Adrien were usually joined at the hip, especially after school.

“He’s got fencing. Last time he had fencing, I went to a café and it did _not_ go well and I don’t really feel like hanging around the school, so I thought I’d see if you were available!” He playfully bumped her shoulder with his own.

She considered telling him her afternoon was booked solid with stressing about her and Chat’s, well, _date,_ but decided against it. “I’ve got nothing. Just the homework and maybe helping my parents out in the bakery. It won’t be a fun time, but you’re welcome to come over.”

“Awesome!” Peter pumped a fist into the air. “I love your parents.”

“From what I know, they love you too,” Marinette laughed as they headed into the bakery.

Her parents were working, as always, her mom heading the cash register while her dad prepared more sweets. While her mom was busy with a customer, Marinette walked up to her dad, Peter in tow.

“Hey dad, Peter’s going to be hanging out here for the afternoon.” At the mention of Peter’s name, her dad’s head snapped up from icing his cupcakes, face breaking into a huge grin.

“There’s my favourite customer!” He said, abandoning the icing pipe altogether to do an intricate handshake with Peter.

“You two have a handshake?” Marinette asked in disbelief.

“I mean, it’s not really the same without Sabine,” Peter said, nodding his head towards her mom. Obviously, her parents had given him the pass to call them by their first names, something they only gave to kids they really liked. Marinette shouldn’t have been surprised that Peter made the roster, but it was a surreal experience nonetheless.

“You all have a handshake without me?”

“Peter’s always here in the mornings,” her dad explained. “He’s great to talk to! Super smart too. You could learn a thing or two from him.” He winked at her. “Plus, he works for Spiderman. How cool is that?”

“So cool,” Marinette deadpanned. “So you guys are all just best friends?”

“Best of pals,” Peter confirmed. “They feed my pastry addiction and in return I give them money and also my life stories.”

“This kid is a riot! Best storyteller I’ve ever met. You’re one of a kind, Peter.” Her dad gave Peter a strong clap on the back. Peter didn’t even move, despite the fact that her dad’s friendly pats usually sent people flying.

“Thanks Tom. I should really go help Marinette with her homework, though. Those energy transformations aren’t going to transform themselves!” He winked. “Physics is something of a specialty for me.”

Peter followed Marinette up to her room as she tried to process the fact that her friend was also friends with her parents. Practically better friends with her parents than he was with her.

“See, they’re so nice!” Peter exclaimed, taking the stairs two at a time. “I think they’d love my aunt too. She’s like a mom to me. Maybe one day she’ll visit me and they’ll meet?” His tone was excited as they entered her room.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” She gave a little twirl, excited to drop the whole parent-friend friendship topic.

“Damn, why does literally everyone here have such massive rooms?” Peter whistled. “It’s very pink.”

“It’s my favourite colour,” Marinette explained.

“And mine’s blue, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by my décor.” Peter put his bag down on her chaise lounge. “You’ve got a skylight and everything! My apartment in New York just has a fire escape outside it, which is cool and all until it’s three am and there’s a weird man scratching at your window.”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” Marinette admitted, spreading her homework out on her desk.

“I wish I was.” Peter’s smile never wavered. “Don’t worry though, I’m rather good at hand-to-hand combat. I’ve been told my style resembles that of Capoeira. Lots of focus on centrifugal force.”

Marinette had no idea how to respond. That slightly explained why Peter had been so good at being Helios. Every single fact she learned about him was more bizarre than the last, so many conflicting traits all wrapped up in one deceptively innocent human being. Did he have a favourite movie? What would it be?

“What’s your favourite movie?” She blurted and Peter, who had been leaning over her desk inspecting several images of Adrien she had yet to remove from her walls, straightened up and turned to her, unfazed by her random question.

“Star Wars: the Empire Strikes Back. It’s really old, but it’s such a good movie. Do you guys have that in France? I usually just watch movies with Adrien in English, since he understands it.”

“Yes Peter, we have Star Wars, and I wouldn’t necessarily call it a ‘really old movie’. Aged, maybe, but-”

It was at that moment that Chat Noir chose to drop into her room unannounced, landing right in front of Marinette.

“Ah!” Marinette screamed and Peter jumped at the noise, immediately transitioning into a kick that hit Chat square in the chest, sending him flying into the chaise lounge.

“Oh shit, that’s Chat Noir!” Peter said, clapping a hand over his mouth as Chat groaned, limbs askew.

It was indeed Chat, Marinette’s sort-of-boyfriend, and her friend had just kicked him across the room. How had Peter managed to kick Chat that far?

“Oh my god, Chat Noir sir, I’m so sorry.” Peter helped Chat to his feet as Chat rubbed his head, wincing.

“That’s one hell of a kick you got there.” The superhero said. “I had no idea you had company,” he turned to Marinette, who had to force herself not to blush. Right now, Chat was her friend and her friend only. So there would be no running her hands through his hair or snuggling in his arms or….

“Earth to Mari?” Peter waved a hand in front of her face. She’d been staring.

“Sorry!” She flinched. “Chat, this is Peter. He’s my friend from school. I had no idea you’d be stopping by.” Now Chat was staring at Peter. What was going on?

“I just needed a teensy bit of help with something, but I can totally come back later,” Chat offered, one hand around his baton before Peter stopped him.

“Nah man, if anyone should be leaving, it’s me. I can just hang out with Tom and Sabine, we’re super tight.”

“Stop,” Marinette held up her hand. “No one’s going anywhere. Peter and I weren’t doing anything except homework anyways, so we can _both_ help you, Chat.”

“Okay,” Chat agreed, replacing his baton in its usual spot against the small of his back. “There’s this girl-”

“Ladybug,” Peter interjected. “We all know it’s Ladybug.”

“-yes Ladybug, but you can’t tell anyone, I promised I would keep it low key, but anyways, I’m planning a bit of an outing for us tonight, and I need some help.”

“Take her to a fancy restaurant,” Peter suggested, wiggling his shoulders. “Candlelit dinner overlooking La Seine. Paris is the most romantic city in the world. Use that to your advantage.”

“The restaurant bit is out of the question,” Chat said, but he didn’t look too discouraged. “The rest of that might be a go, though.”

This was insane. Chat and Peter had only met once, to Marinette’s knowledge, and Chat hadn’t known it was Peter at the time. But here they were, getting along like old pals, planning her and Chat’s date.

“What do you think, Mari?” Peter asked. “I have quite literally never been on a date before and my judgement is probably flawed.”

“I agree with everything you said?” Marinette smiled uncomfortably at them, her sentence coming out more like a question. “Honestly, I don’t need to weigh in, you’ve got everything under control, Chat. I’m sure she’ll love whatever you do.”

“Thanks guys!” Chat nodded, giving them both his signature grin. “I’d better go, I’ve got a lot of preparation to do.”

She watched him leave, her heart practically bursting. Chat really did care. Plus, she was a little bit glad that wandering the sewers was officially out of the question.

“Ooo, girl, you like him,” Peter said the second Chat had closed the skylight.

“I do not _like_ him!” Marinette snapped defensively. “It’s just, the last time he was here, I accidentally kissed him, so it was a bit awkward this time around.”

“You _accidentally_ kissed him? Mari, what on earth does that even mean?” Peter looked like he was trying not to laugh while giving her a disappointed stare.

“It was temporary insanity.” She crossed her arms, looking him in the eye.

“Okay, so Chat Noir is just a friend now?”

“Yep.” A friend who she was also going to be seeing that night for a date. But Peter couldn’t know that. So instead she had to pretend that Chat Noir was just a good pal. It probably didn’t help that she’d told him about the kiss, but something about the boy just made her want to tell the truth.

“Interesting, very interesting indeed,” Peter raised an eyebrow, sitting down in her desk chair. “How about that homework, then?”

Marinette groaned. She didn’t want to think about school, but there was no way any more work was getting done later that evening. “What subject should we start with?”

“Literature,” Peter said simply. “You’re supposed to have finished reading Romeo and Juliet by now.”

“I’ve tried,” Marinette complained. “But I literally don’t understand it. He uses so many words when he could’ve just summarized it so easily.”

“A summary wouldn’t have done the story justice,” Peter said, flipping through the book. “The words are what makes it beautiful, what makes it something worth being invested in. It paints a picture in your mind. Like when Juliet decides that she loves Romeo no matter who his parents are, despite the fact that there’s so many barriers they have to overcome. They barely know who they are, but they make that promise to love each other beyond that fact, because they’ll figure it out together! That’s what makes it so moving. You’re not going to find anything like that in some _summary_.”

“How’d you get _that_ from _this_?” Marinette frowned. Clearly she hadn’t understood the book. “They both die at the end.”

“Because they’d rather die than live without each other! It’s called love, Marinette. They love each other so much that the world is dark without the other one.”

“Sure,” Marinette rolled her eyes playfully. “I still think reading the whole thing is a waste of time.”

“And that’s why your grades are mediocre at best,” Peter replied, miffed that she hadn’t taken to his explanation. “You’re telling me you’ve never loved someone so much you can’t imagine life without them?”

Now that he put it that way, Marinette couldn’t imagine life without Chat, or her friends, or her parents. So many people she cared about so much, that had shaped her life. “I have,” she whispered. “Have you?”

Peter blinked. “Yeah, and I’ve experienced the other side of the same coin. I’ve had to learn to live without the people who I didn’t think I could live without. I can see why Romeo and Juliet couldn’t take it.”

“How did you move on from that?” Marinette wasn’t sure when their conversation had gone from playful banter to serious, but she wanted to know his story. Master Fu had chosen Peter for the phoenix miraculous because of how strong he was morally and emotionally, not just physically. And if she could learn from him, she’d take any chance she could get.

“Love liberally,” Peter shrugged. “You never know when it’s going to be the last time you see someone. There’s not really time for childish stuff. If you love someone, let them know, show it. I don’t mean outright saying ‘I love you’ because I get that’s not everyone’s forte, but love comes in a lot of different forms. Sometimes it’s as big as someone trying to capture the moon and stars for you, sometimes it’s as small as bringing someone their favourite food on a bad day.”

“Just like how you got Spiderman to take Adrien food?”

“Adrien’s like a brother to me,” Peter confessed, fiddling with the cuffs of his jacket. “If anything ever happened to him, I don’t think I’d ever recover.”

“That would be like a supervillain origin story,” Marinette gave a small laugh, just trying to lighten the mood slightly.

“It would take more than that to turn me bad. If anything, it would make me a better person. Loss makes some people bitter, but it makes me more empathetic. I don’t hide anything about my past because I know that just talking about it can help someone else. Like Adrien. He never got to talk about a lot of things; emotions weren’t really welcome in the Agreste household. But the way I see it, you either live your emotions for awhile or they control you. Every supervillain was human first.”

“That’s deep,” Marinette said in hushed tones, uncertain of how her own thoughts could possibly compare to his. It was statements like that that solidified her belief that Peter was the perfect phoenix wielder. He was more mature than she could ever be, but that might’ve been a side effect from the trauma. And maybe that’s why he was the perfect friend for Adrien. She recognized some aspects of his personality in Adrien, but Adrien had never been that open. Adrien’s mother was gone, presumed dead, and as far as Marinette could tell, that wasn’t something he’d gotten to speak with anyone about until Peter came along.

“Thank you! I had a really good therapist who told me that speaking about my emotions was the best way to deal with them. I’ve always had a good support system. But that’s enough about me. It’s your turn, Miss Marinette. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Marinette had not been prepared for this turn of events, to say the least. “I don’t think there’s really anything I need to talk about!”

“There has to be something,” Peter said, spinning in the desk chair. “I don’t need to know details, but I feel like something is bothering you. I get vibes.” He wiggled his fingers in the air, like he was attempting to cast a spell.

“Fine,” Marinette humphed. “There’s this guy, and I’m not telling you who he is, but I’m supposed to be seeing him sometime this week, and we’re going on what I guess you could call a date and I’m a bit nervous that he’s too good for me.”

“Too good for you?” Peter scoffed. “Marinette, you’re great. Anyone would be lucky to be with you.”

“Okay, but what if I accidentally wind up hurting him some how? Or I mess everything up and then he can never talk to me again? Or what if-”

“Stop. It’s going to be fine, that’s just anxiety talking. Clearly you like this boy, or you wouldn’t have agreed to go on a date with him, and the fact that you’re worried that you’ll mess it up leads me to believe that you won’t have a problem. You care about him, and that’s all you need to focus on. It’ll go great.”

“Thanks Peter.”

“Enough of all that, I think.” He stood up, giving her a mischievous look. “What are you going to wear?”

Marinette managed to entertain Peter with selecting a fake outfit before he left for the day. Obviously she’d look ridiculous wearing a dress overtop her Ladybug suit. She tried. It didn’t look good. She still wanted to do something different for the date, though, so she put a bit more eyeshadow than usual on and left her hair hanging down. It wasn’t practical for patrol, but she figured they’d only last about twenty minutes or so before they gave up on patrol altogether.

Spidey was already at their meeting spot, as usual, but his suit’s eyes looked less perky than usual, if possible.

“You good?” She asked as she landed next to him.

“Always,” he muttered, fiddling with something on his web shooters. “I feel bad, but I won’t be able to do patrols for long. I’ll zip around real fast, but then I’ve got some business I have to take care of.”

“Avengers stuff again?” Spidey couldn’t have picked a better day to skip out on patrols. It was like he could read their minds.

“Nope,” he shook his head. “Unknown number called me, told me they wanted to talk to me tonight. I traced the number easily, but the person I have to meet up with is definitely not someone I would have exactly sought out. It’s going to be a long night for me.”

“Do you need backup?” _Please say no, please say no, please say no._

“No, I have to go alone. It’s perfectly safe, just a hassle, that’s all. I’ll get started on patrols now, see you later, Ladybug. Thanks for understanding.” He took off at a run across the rooftop, leaping away before she could even say goodbye.

“Alone at last,” a low voice said by her ear, a familiar arm snaking its way around her waist.

“Hello, Chat,” she turned to face him; a mistake, turns out. They were now nose to nose, Chat wearing his signature smirk. Marinette hated to admit it, but that smirk gave her all sorts of butterflies. The realization both annoyed her and gave her a warm fuzzy feeling simultaneously.

“So, I think Spiderman can handle patrol on his own,” he said, eyes boring into hers.

“Funnily enough, I actually agree with you.” She couldn’t help herself as she reached out, running a hand up his toned chest. “Plus, I was promised a secret date.”

“I may have planned a thing or two. If you can keep up.” And with that he took off running.

“Hey!” Marinette called out, already a few seconds behind him as they raced along the rooftops, leaping over entire buildings and clearing chimneys. She was so focused on catching up that she didn’t even realize when he disappeared from sight.

“Chaton?” She whispered, looking around. He couldn’t have gotten far, he’d been right in front of her two seconds ago. The rooftop she’d landed on was long and rectangular, the flat surface stretching on for a good ten metres or so.

She took a careful step forwards, eyes peeled, and two candles flared to life on either side of her.

“Ah!” Marinette flinched, but the flame continued to dance harmlessly. Were those…rose petals on the ground? As she continued down the rooftop, more and more candles flickered to life, lining the walkway. The next rooftop in front of her was the tallest in the surrounding area, flat and square. She couldn’t see what was on top, but she’d reached the end of her rose petal runway.

This was it. Her last chance to back out. Once she leapt up onto that next rooftop, she’d official be on The Date. The Date with Chat Noir. Actually, the whole idea wasn’t nearly as daunting as she thought it would be. She liked him a lot, and there was no going back now.

And so she gracefully flipped upwards, landing right on the ledge.

“Hey, Ladybug.” The scene was beautiful. Chat had laid fairy lights around the edge of the roof, casting a golden glow, a picnic blanket spread out in the middle, already laden with assorted pastas, salads, beverages, and buns. A simple cake box, one she recognized from her parents’ bakery immediately, sat off to the side. And there was Chat, standing in the shadow of the large chimney, green eyes glowing in the night.

“Chat, this is amazing.” Marinette was truly breathless. They had an amazing view of Paris at night, but the only thing she could focus on was her partner as he moved closer.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered, hands reaching out to clasp hers.

“You saw me two seconds ago,” she whispered back, suddenly unable to tear her gaze from his.

“I’ll never get tired of your beauty.”

“We should eat before the food gets cold.” She was unable to stop smiling, to the point her face was starting to hurt. But it was so hard to keep a neutral expression when Chat was right there; just being in his presence was enough to make her the happiest girl alive.

“It’s not much,” Chat said, leading her over to the picnic blanket. “Just a little something I threw together at last minute.”

“Sparkling apple juice?” Marinette read the label on the nearest bottle, raising an eyebrow.

“Hell yeah, sparkling apple juice. It’s like champagne for kids at family gatherings. So good.” He winked, pouring her a glass. Chat had brought actual, proper silverware. No paper plates and cups for him, apparently.

She took a tentative sip, surprised to find that it actually wasn’t bad. Fizzy and a bit unusual, but not bad.

“I don’t know what sort of pasta you like, so I went with chicken parmigiana,” Chat placed a plate in front of her. “I mean, it’s technically just a giant chicken nugget and spaghetti, so you really can’t go wrong.”

“It’s perfect, Chat. Thank you.” And it was. She couldn’t think of a single person she would rather be spending her night with.

“I mean, I’ve been dreaming about a night like this ever since I met you pretty much, so I’d hope it’s perfect.” He glanced away, almost shy. Marinette reached a single hand up, gently turning his face back to her.

“Since you met me? I seem to recall our first interaction being me falling out of the sky and knocking you right off your baton.”

“That was hilarious,” Chat said. “And getting tangled up in your yoyo was when I realized I liked you. Quite literally two seconds later. I realized I loved you not long after, when you stood up to the Papillon and told all of Paris that we’d always protect them. It was badass.”

Marinette was at a loss for words. Chat had never shied away from saying he loved her and Ladybug felt guilty for not saying it back. She definitely liked him lots, more than she’d thought was possible, but voicing that would seem meek compared to his declarations. And so to avoid talking, she simply settled for kissing him instead. He tasted like the Caesar salad he’d been eating.

Given that it was Chat, what had started off as a nice kiss on her part quickly turned much more heated mere moments later as he seemed to decide Ladybug was far more interesting than food. His tongue ran lightly against her bottom lip and Marinette gasped, eyes widening, and he took that opportunity to explore her mouth with his tongue. This was…new. Not unpleasant, but new.

Chat seemed to notice the fact that she’d completely frozen up and pulled away, eyes searching her face for signs of discomfort.

“Sorry! I got a bit carried away there,” he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck before leaning back, stabbing another bit of salad on his fork.

Marinette continued to blink at him, mouth still hanging slightly open.

“Ladybug, please say something. I’ll never do that again, I promise.” Chat said hastily.

“No, no, it’s okay, I just was _not_ expecting that,” she finally managed. “It wasn’t bad.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s better when both parties are actively involved.” Chat gave her a sly grin, flirt turned back on now that she’d confirmed she was alright. “How about some cake?”

He opened the box, displaying a tiny, red heart-shaped cake.

“Chat! It’s so cute!” Marinette couldn’t help but squeal. What could she say? As a baker’s daughter, she appreciated cute sweets, even if they were made by her dad.

“Only the best for My Lady.” He carefully sliced the cake in half, expertly placing the slices on plates, handing the first one to her. Marinette giggled, certain that she hadn’t stopped blushing since the evening began. Chat had been right; he really was going to woo her. Somehow he knew everything she liked, or maybe he just knew _her_.

“Okay, so I talked to Spidey and he let me borrow his little wrist projector for the night,” Chat said as Marinette dug into the cake. “So I thought we could watch a movie or something? He said he loaded the ‘perfect movie’ onto it and I brought a bunch of pillows and blankets and whatnot.”

“What sort of movie does Spiderman consider ‘perfect’?” Marinette was slightly sceptical as Chat pulled blankets and pillows out from where they’d been hiding in the shadows, setting the little nest up against the chimney.

“I’ve been too scared to check, to be entirely honest.” Chat held out a grey blob to her and Marinette paused. Was that…?

“My friend gave this to me one time,” Chat explained. “It’s a blanket mixed with a hoodie. So comfy and I thought you might enjoy it.”

Marinette wasted no time before pulling her own creation over her head. The fuzzy inside felt _so_ comfy against her suit, blocking out the crisp night air. Chat had finished setting everything up so she snuggled up next to him, placing her plate on her lap as he fiddled with the projector.

“How does this work?” He peered at it. “I don’t see any buttons, this sort of thing is too high-tech for me.”

“Let me see,” she carefully took it from him, tilting it, imitating the way Spidey had held his wrist the time he’d used the projector in front of them. It took a second, then Spiderman’s face popped up, staring at them.

“Ah!” She dropped it like it’d burned her, the projection flashing into Chat’s eyes.

“Ow!” He blindly grabbed it, setting it up in front of them.

“Hey guys, it’s Spiderman here!” The Spidey projection spoke. “This is just a quick little prologue about what you’re going to see. The film you will be watching tonight was nominated for two oscars, won a golden globe, as well as a Grammy! It’s a film that’s very close to my heart and is a large part of who I am. I hope it is as inspiring to you as it was to me. Without further ado, I present to you….” He gave a grand sweep of his arm as he faded out.

“One winner…forty-two losers…and I eat losers for breakfast,” came the opening line, and Marinette let out a peal of laughter.

“He picked _Cars_?” She cackled, leaning further into Chat as she laughed. Chat didn’t look too pleased.

“I told him something romantic! Not cartoon cars!”

“Cartoon cars are really romantic, I think Spidey nailed it.”

They watched the movie unfold before them, Chat’s arm around her shoulders, Marinette’s form pressed into his side. It was so normal, so casual, and definitely not something she’d ever thought she’d get to do while in the suit. Chat was the sort to comment on every aspect of the movie, giving his (usually pointless) thoughts.

“I’m just saying, I think Lightning McQueen would’ve been so much cooler if he was a grey or black car! The red plus the decoration is just yicky,” he commented as the credits rolled.

“You’re cute, but also wrong,” Marinette tapped him on the nose. “He shouldn’t be anything except red.”

“I supposed red is an exceptional colour,” Chat commented, looking at her suit.

Marinette laughed, but it quickly turned into a yawn that did not go unnoticed by her partner.

“Getting tired, are we My Lady?”

“I don’t want to go home,” Ladybug admitted, wrapping her arms around his neck, no easy feat given the way she was slumped against him.

“Then don’t,” Chat whispered. “Stay here. It’ll be like a sleepover!”

“A sleepover?” His grin made her smile, despite how tired she was. “What if we detransform?”

“Let’s see,” Chat considered. “We haven’t done any strenuous activity, but if it’ll make you feel safer, how about we go feed our kwamis and meet back here in five?”

Marinette agreed, but leaving his side was easier said than done. She just wanted to lay there in his arms until the end of time, regardless of who she was or what duty she had to the city of Paris. It was with great difficulty that she managed to leap off the rooftop, landing in an alleyway and detransforming.

“What’s going on?” Tikki asked as Marinette dug around in her purse for a macaron.

“I’m staying the night with Chat Noir,” Marinette said quickly, handing her little friend the cookie. “We just want to make sure we’re not detransforming while we’re both asleep.”

“That’s very responsible,” Tikki smiled, obviously approving of the plan. “Things are going well with you two, I assume?”

Marinette blushed at the thought. “I never thought it was possible, but I really do like him. Stupid puns and all.”

It was only a few minutes later that she rejoined Chat on the rooftop, settling right back down into their little makeshift cocoon. Her head on his chest, fingers drawing small patterns across his stomach, Marinette had never been happier.

“Do you want to talk about something?” She asked, breaking their comfortable silence.

“Did you have something in mind?” Chat replied, breathing into her hair.

“Not really, I just want to get to know you.”

“Tell me your deepest secret. That seems like a good place to start.” She could hear his smile in his voice.

“My deepest secret? That would be my identity, chaton.”

“Fine, just a secret then.”

“I nearly gave the ladybug miraculous to someone else after our first mission together. Your turn.” She tilted her head up, meeting Chat’s intent stare.

“My secret was going to be that I always wanted a brother but you almost quit being Ladybug? Was it something I did?” He looked distressed now, and Marinette reached up to gently stroke his cheek.

“No,” she cooed. “I thought I was a failure, I thought there was no way I could be a superhero. Sometimes I still don’t.”

“You’re not alone,” Chat admitted. “I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time, I just follow your lead. You could be Ladybug without Chat Noir, but I could never be Chat Noir without Ladybug. And I’m not just talking about akuma purifying.” He gave her a meaningful look.

“I wouldn’t want to be Ladybug if you weren’t Chat Noir.” She tried her best to hold back another yawn, failing miserably and cursing herself internally. Meaningful talks with Chat were important to her, and here she was ruining them by being tired.

“Go to sleep, My Lady. I’m not going anywhere.” At his words, Marinette allowed herself to settle down further, closing her eyes, her breathing transitioning into slow, deep breaths. Chat stroked her hair as she fell asleep, whisper-singing a little song to himself.

“Little kitty, not alone,

Content and happy with his Lady.

Who he loves more than life itself,

Here in his arms.

Little kitty on a roof….”

* * *

Peter was only slightly bitter that Chat and Ladybug got to spend a romantic evening together whilst he was going to hang out with an old man. It was Master Fu who had called him, addressing him as ‘Helios’ and asking him to meet up in plain clothes. And so Peter had agreed because he had literally nothing better to do that night, and he had a lot of questions that needed answering.

“We’re going to meet the guardian?” Suluu asked as they swung away from where he’d left Ladybug and Chat.

“You’ve never met him?” Peter frowned, dropping down into a secluded area of the park, releasing his Spidey transformation.

“Nope! You were the first to open that box in hundreds of years,” Suluu nestled herself in his hood, a slight warmth rolling off her tiny body. “Do we like him?”

“I don’t know, like I said, I only broke into his house once when I was Spiderman. All we talked about then was how I knew about the other’s identities. It’ll be a fun little reunion.”

Master Fu had tea made and ready to pour by the time Peter arrived, carefully shutting the door to the massage shop behind him.

“Welcome, Spiderman,” Master Fu said, looking at him with a glint in his eye. Peter froze on the spot, considering how suspicious it would be if he ran away right then and there.

“I’m…not…,” Peter whispered, his expression completely betraying him.

“Don’t worry,” Master Fu said, handing him a steaming cup of tea. “Please come sit.” And so Peter sat.

“Hypothetically,” Peter said slowly after taking a sip. “If I were Spiderman – and I’m not saying that I am – but if I was, how did you find out?”

“I had my suspicions from when I first heard about you. As soon as I heard you were to be living with Adrien, I learned everything I could about you, and of course I realized that you were very, very smart. And when your presence brought Spiderman too, I had to watch both of you, since I knew having you here put Adrien’s identity at risk. However I learned very fast that you and Spiderman were one and the same. It takes a superhero to know a superhero. Both you and Spiderman have young bodies yet old souls, and to know someone like that in one life time is rare enough, let alone to know two at the same time. And by the night when Spiderbug made his appearance and I saw you step out of the suit with my own two eyes, I knew that I’d made the best possible choice to wield the phoenix miraculous.”

“Wait a minute,” Peter said, mind racing. “Ladybug’s yoyo already had the phoenix miraculous in it that night. Unless she just holds onto it, you’d picked me before that night.”

“Correct,” Master Fu said. “And I’m glad we are no longer speaking in the hypothetical. That was just the night that my long-time hunch was one hundred percent confirmed. I chose you to wield the phoenix miraculous after the evening when you broke into my house.”

Peter winced. “I’m sorry? But how did that make me a contender?”

“You could sense the miraculous, but mistook it for the gramophone, since it was also emitting signals you could pick up on. The phoenix miraculous calls to those who know it’s there, who have means of acquiring it; but you didn’t know it was there. And with that, it was a sign that you were meant to become the phoenix. Furthermore, you knew Ladybug and Chat Noir’s real identities.”

“It’s so obvious! Their miraculous don’t change them that much, at least not physically.”

“The masks have special magic that prevents people from recognizing them, but they cannot fool computers. And you are no android. So how did you recognize them right away? To me, there were two answers. The first was your Spiderman senses, pointing the way. The second was that you see beyond the physical form of a person, and instead you go straight for the spirit. You see who they are, not who they pretend to be with whatever masks they wear. Illusions can’t get beyond you, Peter. That’s why so many people feel comfortable confiding in you. You make them feel seen.”

Peter just blinked at the old man, uncertain of how to respond. “I’m pretty sure it’s just the Spidey senses,” he managed, drumming his restless fingers on his knee.

“You faced the Papillon with no fear,” Master Fu continued, ignoring Peter’s interruption. “And you spoke to him like he was insignificant, a mere inconvenience that was wasting your time. Even I do not possess that amount of bravery. And Marinette told me about what you said once you were done using the phoenix miraculous, as you returned it. You’re really special, and that’s why I entrusted you with it. It’s yours.”

“I don’t want to use it all the time, though,” Peter said. If this was a talk about joining the patrols as Helios, he’d have to shut it down fast. “It hurts so bad to use.”

“That’s why I chose you. Marinette was so scared to give it to you, because she thought it would kill you, but you’re so much stronger than that. You see the whole picture, Peter, which is why you know you don’t need to use it all the time, and you know that power like that is destructive. The phoenix song never sounds as beautiful to the one who sings it, because above all, it is a cry for help.”

“Did you call me here to tell me why you chose me?” Peter couldn’t resist asking. He had enough pressure already, and it felt a teensy bit like Master Fu was just adding more.

“No. I called you here to answer any questions you may have, as well as to explain to you what will happen when you finally face the Papillon. I cannot have such conversations with the others, as they are near-sighted, but I can confide in you and trust that you’ll do the right thing when the time comes. I once said of you that you listen to logic before you listen to fear, and I hope that will continue to ring true.”

“I hope so too,” Peter said. “I’m of the belief that no matter what you’ve got going on, you can never let your emotions overpower your intelligence. In a matter of life or death, fear comes second.”

“Very good.” Master Fu took the opportunity to sip his own tea. “But even you must have an emotional Achille’s heel, per say, something that would absolutely break you if it occurred.”

“Ignoring my life back home and focusing solely on Paris, I think Adrien is my Achille’s heel. But I don’t think that’s a weakness.”

“No, I don’t think so either. If anything were to happen to Adrien, I’m sure you could save him.”

“Even if I couldn’t save him, I’d make it worth it. I always do. It’s why I’m Spiderman. I’ve always had a debt to pay, and it’s constantly growing. Everyone is worth saving, but you can’t save everyone.” Peter felt like this whole interaction was a test of sorts, and he was determined to pass. He was good at witty one-liners, but when it came down to it, he understood the full weight of the work he did as a superhero, and he wanted to prove that to Master Fu.

“Your kwami has explained the healing tears, then?” Master Fu’s eyes dropped to where Suluu was peeking over the edge of Peter’s hood.

“No, actually. Suluu, you’ve been awful quiet.”

Suluu flew out, hovering in the air. “Hello Master Guardian. I am Suluu.”

“Hello Suluu,” Master Fu said kindly. “I trust you like your chosen.”

“I love him!” Suluu said fiercely, eyes flashing. “He’s the best!”

“He is,” Master Fu agreed. “Now we should explain how the healing tears work. I’ll let you lead the explanation.”

“Okay,” Suluu took a deep breath, turning to Peter. “As the phoenix holder, you have the power to not only heal the wounded, but bring back the dead.”

“What!?” Peter jolted, nearly spilling the remainder of his tea. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Master Fu cleared his throat. “Language.”

“Sorry, I mean what the shit does that mean?” Peter did not realize that he was being reprimanded for his turn of phrase and not his translation.

Suluu laughed at the expression on Master Fu’s face before continuing her explanation. “The healing tears have the power to reverse death upon a few conditions. You must reverse the death within five minutes after it has occurred, and you can only bring them back if they want to be brought back.”

“That makes sense,” Peter considered. “Phoenixes represent death in a lot of depictions and cultures, so it’s only natural that the tears reflect that. But also, I can’t cry when I sing the phoenix song. My eyes turn into mini suns, don’t they?”

“The phoenix tears aren’t water.” Suluu shook her head, like it should have been obvious. “They’re molten gold, charged with magic.”

“Gold melts at one thousand and sixty-four degrees Celsius.” Peter looked between his kwami and the Master. “Are you saying that I have to withstand that kind of heat in order to use it? And now that I think about it, white flame is around one thousand, three hundred degrees. And the fire phoenix I summoned last time was mostly white flame. So you’re telling me that’s why it’s so painful?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Suluu confirmed. “That’s why most people don’t make a habit of using this miraculous. It’s very painful even if it doesn’t kill you.”

“I love that for me,” Peter sighed. “I can confirm that it’s really not a fun time.”

“But you are the only one I’ve ever met who can wield it,” Master Fu chimed in. “And the fight against the Papillon is not one that can be won by Spiderman, Ladybug, and Chat Noir alone. You need to have the element of magic on your side, in order to make sure that nothing irreversible happens. I need you to support them beyond the wisdom you impart.”

“You’re afraid someone’s going to die,” Peter realized. “And if they do, you think their death will be in your hands since you gave them the miraculous.”

“I cannot be a superhero anymore. I am simply an old man who does his best to answer their questions, but some I cannot. But you, Spiderman, seem to be able to answer everything they throw at you. Even if you don’t know what to do, you figure it out. I can trust you to make the right decisions when the time is right. You’re truly one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met, Peter.”

“Nah, I do everything for a super selfish reason.” Peter waved his hand in the air. “I never want anyone to have to deal with everything I’ve gone through. So I just gotta do my thing to stop everyone else from losing what matters most to them. I’m really only ever thinking of myself and how I would feel if ‘insert event here’ happened. Like when Ladybug told me she was scared to take on the Papillon, I knew how to comfort her because I’m literally constantly terrified of what the future holds. It’s by projecting my own problems onto other people’s that I relate, and that feels pretty self-centred to me.”

“If that’s what selfish means, then I wish everyone else was a little more selfish.” Master Fu gave him a kind smile. “But I must ask of you, Spiderman, to find out who the Papillon truly is, beneath his mask. I trust you have your own theories, as I have mine, but we need to find out if we are to know who our true enemy is.”

“Who do you think he is?”

“I will not tell you, at risk of clouding your judgement. But you seem to have fewer inhibitions about confronting villains than your counterparts.”

Peter shrugged. “Like Mr. Roosevelt said. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is far more important than fear. We have to become greater than what we suffer, whatever holds us back. The Papillon himself doesn’t scare me. He’s just a man, after all. And when I meet him, I’ll save him.”

“Save him?” Master Fu and Suluu chorused.

“You can’t think about it like you’re saving the world. I’m just saving one person, and I guess that person is the Papillon. He’s done horrible things, preyed off the innocent, but you have to give people a chance to change. If he’s done all that bad, who knows how much good he could do? Lots of people do the wrong things for the right reason. Not to take the moral high ground or anything, but I’ve met lots of people who have proved that people can change. And to take him down without a single thought as to try and see things from his perspective, without even pausing to think that he could be helped, those are not the actions of a true hero.”

“And that’s why I chose you,” Master Fu said quietly, setting his teacup down. “Find out who the Papillon is, and we’ll find a way to save him. But be careful.”

“I’m always careful,” Peter grinned. “Except for when I take stupid risks for the betterment of humanity.”

“I am putting my life’s work in your hands, Spiderman. Try not to screw it up, please.”

Peter stood, gesturing for Suluu to return to his hood. “You know I can’t promise that. But I can promise I’ll try.”

“That’s all I can ask for, I suppose.”

The night air was cold as Peter stepped out of the massage parlour, ready to head home. His talk with Master Fu had provided some much needed clarity, but had put more pressure on Peter’s shoulders. At this point he felt like he was Atlas, holding the weight of the world above him. A ridiculous thought, he knew, but a reality to him all the same.

“How will you know that you’re ready to take on the Papillon?” Suluu asked from the safe cover of Peter’s clothing.

“I won’t,” Peter said honestly. Master Fu didn’t seem too confident in what would happen. “No one ever knows when they’re ready, and the only way to find out is to go for it. But it seems like I’m to act as backup in this situation. Why bring up the healing tears? He obviously thinks I’m going to need them.”

“Maybe not for something as extreme as death?” Suluu suggested.

“Hopefully not. Cuz if Marinette or Adrien dies, I don’t want to be responsible for trying to bring them back. I don’t think I’m the best person for that job.”

“You quite literally are, though. That’s why you have the phoenix miraculous.”

“Emotionally speaking,” Peter rolled his eyes, “I am not prepared for anything of the sort. Now let’s go get my projector back from that kitty cat.”

“Why does Kitty Cat have your projector?”

“Chat borrowed it for his little date night and asked me to pick a romantic movie. I picked Cars.”

“Just a video of cars? How is that romantic?” Suluu sounded concerned.

“If you watched it, you would understand. There’s so many levels to the film, so many layers to Sally and Lightning McQueen’s relationship.” Peter laughed. “Now get out of the hood, I need to transform.”

Suluu complied, zipping out in front of Peter as he turned into Spiderman, swinging above the city. “Are we looking for them?”

“No need,” Peter said. “There’s a tracker in the projector. It’s this way.” He changed his course, following the map his suit’s display laid out for him. “I just hope they’re not doing anything gross when I show up.”

He landed silently on a chimney, perched above where Ladybug and Chat Noir were currently holding their little date.

“Oh my god, yep, that’s the grossest thing I’ve ever seen.” He looked away dramatically, only to find himself looking straight at his kwami.

“They’re sleeping,” she said pointedly, crossing her arms.

“It’s not just sleeping! They’re _cuddling._ It’s so cutesy it’s rotting my brain.”

“You told me they were meant to be together! You said they were perfect for each other!” Suluu’s tone was accusing.

“Su, I’m joking. I love Ladybug and Chat Noir. I worked very hard to get them together, of course I want to see them together.”

“That was a fucking stupid joke,” Suluu snarked.

“You can’t just say that!” Peter’s eyes widened, his suit’s eyes following in suit.

“You say it all the time!”

“Well that’s different. You’re innocent.”

“I’m millions of years older than you. If anyone is meant to be the authority figure here, it’s me.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to swear.” Peter reprimanded. “Let’s just get the projector and get out of here, those two need to sleep.”

He dropped down onto the roof, carefully grabbing his projector as so not to wake the sleeping couple. Ladybug was wrapped up in Chat’s arms contentedly, surrounded by a mountain of pillows and blankets. It looked safe and cozy and it made Peter wish he had someone he could snuggle like that. But only a little bit. For the most part, they were just two crazy kids in love.

“I can’t wait until they learn each other’s identities!” Suluu squealed as Peter touched down in the Agreste mansion, shedding his suit as he got ready for bed.

“I can. Can you imagine the amount of drama there will be? It’ll be a nightmare.” He grabbed his toothbrush. “Who do you think will find out first?”

“I think Marinette will learn that Chat Noir is Adrien first,” Suluu decided, after a moment’s hesitation.

“Well I think Adrien will figure it out first,” Peter countered.

“Shall we make a wager?”

“Someone’s confident,” Peter raised an eyebrow, jamming his toothbrush into his mouth and proceeding to speak around it. “No meddling on our parts, simply observing.”

“I hope Marinette figures it out first. If she does, it’ll be a real show.”

“Suluu, you can’t just hope for drama just for the sake of drama.”

“Peter, I’m just calling a cat a cat. When she finds out she’s going to freak.”

“It was a mistake telling you about their little love square,” Peter rolled his eyes, walking out of the bathroom.

“I’ve been so bored for hundreds of years; this is the most interesting thing that’s happened to me in a _long_ time.” Suluu settled on his pillow.

“Do you think they’ll make it back in time for school tomorrow?” Peter asked as he changed into his pyjamas. “I mean, they made the conscious decision to hold a sleepover on a Wednesday night, so I’d be willing to put money on ‘no’.”

“I say they will make it,” Suluu decided. “They’re responsible.”

“No they’re not. Not in the slightest. Ladybug is late to school on an alarmingly regular basis.”

Peter was right. Adrien wasn’t at breakfast and he had to make several very awkward explanations.

“Where’s Adrien?” Nathalie asked, tone chilly as ever.

 _Play dumb,_ Peter thought. Externally, he said, “Who’s Adrien?”

Nathalie did not find his quip amusing. _Not that dumb, you idiot._

“Oh, Adrien? I’m sure he’s fine, he mentioned something about waking up early to go to school to get some extra math help,” Peter said quickly to Nathalie, avoiding her piercing gaze by staring at his apple cinnamon oatmeal.

“If Adrien needed help, he should’ve come to me. I have a teaching license.”

“I didn’t have much say in the matter?” Peter offered. “You’ll have to bring it up with him later.”

“Trust me, Mr. Parker, I will. His bed does not look like it was slept in.”

Welp, Adrien was screwed. Peter had done his absolute best. They’d had a good run, and it seemed likely that he was now going to be killed by his own father. Or his father’s assistant. Nathalie was clearly waiting for a response from Peter, however, so he hit her with his best line, one guaranteed to end the conversation on the spot.

“Dang, that’s crazy.”

* * *

The sun was warm on his face as Adrien awoke, the memories of the night before slowly coming back to him. Ladybug (his Lady!) was still fast asleep beside him, curled up into his side. Adrien took his time to wake up, sleepily memorizing the way Ladybug looked as she slept. Her little nose twitched occasionally, her lips slightly parted as deep breaths passed through them. Since she’d left her hair down, it was slightly mussed and a bit tangled. It was the most beautiful she’d ever looked.

Adrien had no clue as to what time it was. He was also finding he didn’t care. With his Lady in his arms, there was no way he could have a single care in the world.

“Mmmm…Chat?” Ladybug murmured and he froze, barely daring to breathe. A small smile stretched over her face and she squirmed slightly, but she was still fast asleep. So why was she saying his name? Was she sleep talking? Did that mean she was dreaming of him?

“Chat…,” she said again and Adrien smiled. How was she this cute? Then she sat bolt upright, eyes wide. “Ohmygod.”

“What’s wrong, My Lady?” Adrien reached out, gripping her shoulders to steady her.

“Sorry, I forgot where I was for a second.” Ladybug took a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Good dream?” Adrien asked, quirking an eyebrow. Ladybug blushed before schooling her features, giving him an accusing look.

“How do you know?”

“You were talking in your sleep.”

“What?! What did I say?” Ladybug covered her face with her hands, blush returning just as fast as it had left.

“Just my name…why? Was there more to it?” Adrien asked, curiosity piqued.

“Nope!” Ladybug shook her head, still hiding. Adrien reached over, guiding her hands away from her face.

“You’re so beautiful, you know that?” He brushed a thumb over her coloured cheek, meeting her gaze with a steady intensity.

“You may have mentioned it once or twice,” she mumbled. Adrien leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before pulling back to resume his unabashed gazing.

“What was that for?” Ladybug frowned. “Come back.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him back down to her, lips finding his hungrily. This was something new.

“M’Lady,” he managed between kisses. “Shouldn’t we-”

“Shhh.” Ladybug pressed a finger to his lips, eyes dancing over his features. Adrien swallowed hard. She winked. And Adrien combusted on the spot, slumping back against the chimney.

“Going somewhere, chaton?” Ladybug had a glint in her eye as she got up slightly, swinging one leg over him as she settled down in his lap, facing him. Was she…straddling him? Adrien couldn’t tell, as his brain had quite literally shut down and it practically crumbled to dust as she kissed him again, same passion as before. Adrien couldn’t help himself. He let out a strangled groan/moan, he couldn’t really tell the difference. Either way, it made Ladybug pause and she pulled back, both of them breathing hard.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean…,” Adrien waved a hand in the air, unable to complete his sentence.

“It’s a Thursday, isn’t it.” Ladybug suddenly looked horrified.

“Yes?” Adrien said, his brain slowly reconstructing itself.

“We have school.” Her eyes were wide as she grabbed her yoyo, sliding it open. “It’s ten am!” She leapt up, suddenly seized by a frantic energy.

“So? It’s not like- oh shit.” Adrien also jumped up, thoroughly surprised when his legs didn’t give out beneath him. “We have school! We’re late to school! Oh my dad is going to _kill_ me.”

“Mine too!” Ladybug said, quickly helping him pack up. “I’m late all the time, but not _this_ late oh god.”

It was only a matter of seconds before they were running off in their separate directions. Adrien had to drop his stuff back off at his house, quickly detransforming.

“Well well,” Plagg said as soon as he was able. “That was getting spicy there at the end, no?”

“No time!” Adrien yelled, grabbing his school stuff and changing his clothes as fast as possible. “Transform me again so I can get out of here without Nathalie seeing me!”

Adrien released his transformation outside the school, racing in, sliding into his seat. The entire class stared at him.

“Thank you, Adrien, for joining us today,” Mme. Bustier said. “I’m sure you have a good excuse for why you weren’t present for the first half of the day.”

“Photo shoot, sorry,” Adrien lied. He could feel Peter’s eyes burning a hole into the side of his head but he ignored it, staring straight ahead. That was when Marinette burst into the classroom, screaming as she lost her balance and face-planted in front of the entire class.

“Sorry I’m late!” She yelled from the floor, slowly standing up. “I slept in!”

“Why are both you and Marinette arriving late?” Nino leaned across Peter to whisper to Adrien.

“I don’t know why she’s late!” Adrien hissed back. “I had stuff!”

“Nathalie nearly killed me this morning,” Peter said, thoroughly unimpressed. “I told her you were getting extra math help and coming to school early. Apparently it wasn’t a good explanation. Next time, give me a cover story or have me sleep in your bed to make an indent or something.”

Adrien blinked at him. Peter didn’t even seem curious as he returned his attention to his tablet, writing something down. If only Adrien could reveal his identity to Peter. And maybe he could. After all, Peter had proved he couldn’t be akumatized, obviously wasn’t the Papillon, and was close with Spiderman who already knew Adrien’s alter ego. Perhaps it was time to be honest with his friend who’d never been anything but honest to Adrien.

After all, Peter was the closest thing Adrien had to a brother. He would trust him with his life. So perhaps it was time to come clean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A mini-reveal next chapter??? Maybe???? Also at this point I think Suluu is just a self-insert I love her so much
> 
> See you all next week!!!!


	11. Un Rayon de Soleil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark fuck yea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really did try to post this earlier, then I got distracted as per usual my bad. Also I promised a mini-reveal this chapter, but this chapter wound up being way longer on paper than it was in my head, so next chapter, I pinky-promise.
> 
> But I’m back! With some angst, Ladynoir, and a good old fashioned heist (I love a good heist more than anything else in the world) So I hope y’all enjoy
> 
> As per usual, you can see sketches I’ve done here: https://pin.it/7ekkZCW   
> (Imagine being able to post an active href, couldn’t be ao3)

The weekend came too soon for Adrien’s liking. Peter was leaving from Friday evening to Sunday morning, and by extension, Spiderman would be gone too. Whether or not Spiderman was actually leaving the country made no difference. If Peter wasn’t around, the hero wouldn’t be suiting up. Stupid protocol.

“Are you taking a taxi to the airport or should I be asking Nathalie to drive you?” Adrien asked. He was sitting on Peter’s bed, watching as his friend hastily packed for his short visit. Peter paused, seemingly just remembering that Adrien was there.

“No, I’ve got someone coming to get me,” he replied, almost under his breath, as he searched for something, ripping pillows off the head of the bed. At his words, a loud buzzing carried from the foyer through the open door of Peter’s room, reaching Adrien’s ears.

“Is that them?”

Peter gave a short nod. “You want to go greet him?”

“Yeah, sure,” Adrien said, sliding off the bed and running down the steps two at a time. Nathalie had already opened the gates, yet she was nowhere to be seen, leaving Adrien to open the door for their guest.

“Hi, I’m here for Peter Parker.” The first thing that Adrien noticed when he opened the door was the visitor’s shirt. It was identical to the one Peter had purchased in London, the cursed ‘You can’t beat this dead horse!’. Which meant that there were only two options to who was currently standing on his front doorstep, and Ned was ruled out as a possibility as Adrien looked up into the _extremely_ recognizable face of Tony Stark.

“Mon Dieu,” Adrien said, almost entirely at a loss for words.

“Mr. Stark, what a surprise.” Adrien’s father was behind him in an instant, a stiff hand extended to Iron Man as he welcomed him into the house. For his recluse father, that was the equivalent of him getting on the ground and kissing Tony Stark’s Italian loafers.

“I’m just here to pick up my kid,” Mr. Stark said, grasping Gabriel’s hand firmly. “Gotta take him back for a few days. Thanks for taking care of him while he’s here.” He turned his attention to Adrien. “You must be Adrien. He’s always going on about you. Says you’re a great kid.”

Adrien was internally freaking out, his panic only increased when Mr. Stark _winked_ at him. He’d been on the receiving end of one of Iron Man’s winks!

“Adrien, how about you go get Peter,” his father said coldly, disrupting the choir of angels that was currently singing in Adrien’s head.

“Of course,” Adrien said, giving Iron Man one last look before taking off up the stairs.

Peter was cramming the last few items into his backpack as Adrien practically flew into his room. “Iron Man is here for you!” He panted, grasping onto the doorframe. Peter didn’t look surprised at all.

“Okay, thanks Adrien. I think I’m ready to go anyways.” Peter slung his bag over his shoulder, passing Adrien, who was still trying to process everything, on the way out.

“There’s my boy!” Mr. Stark exclaimed as Peter and Adrien rejoined them in the foyer.

“You’re wearing the shirt!” Peter said, grinning. “Twins!” He opened his jacket to reveal the fact that they were, in fact, twinning.

“I love it!” Iron Man said, tucking one hand into his jean pocket, the other reaching out to sling an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “You should’ve seen the look on Pepper’s face when I showed up with it. It was a riot. But we can catch up on the jet. Time to say goodbye for the weekend.”

“Bye Adrien!” Peter beamed. “I’ll see you Sunday!”

“Bye Peter,” Adrien said haltingly. “Bye Iron Man.” Adrien was always meeting people more important than him, and he knew that the number one rule was to just treat them like normal people, but there was no way he could treat Iron Man like a normal human being. He was the superhero blueprint, an inspiration to Adrien and Chat Noir. So he just stood agape.

“Do you want a picture?” Tony Stark asked.

“Can I?” Adrien looked to his father for permission, and Gabriel Agreste gave one blessed and curt nod.

Adrien pulled his phone out, opening it to the camera, making sure he got Mr. Stark and Peter in the photo, giving the camera his biggest smile. Peter did a peace sign, and Iron Man pointed to Adrien. It was so cool, Adrien wasn’t entirely convinced he wasn’t dreaming.

“Okay kid, we really need to get going,” Mr. Stark said, steering Peter out the door. “I’ve got a meeting with Cap that I can’t be late for.”

Adrien watched them walk down the steps and climb into an expensive red sports car. How had Peter been impressed by the Agreste mansion when he hung out with Tony Stark? The man practically owned New York. And Adrien was more confused than ever about Peter’s relationship with the billionaire. He’d been under the impression that Mr. Stark was a boss Peter had met maybe once or twice, but it obviously went beyond that. It was like Peter was Tony Stark’s…kid.

“You didn’t tell me that Peter Parker worked for Tony Stark.” His father’s voice was cold, like an icy wind that bit into Adrien’s skin like needles.

“I didn’t think it was important,” Adrien replied semi-honestly. “I didn’t know they were that close, I swear. I thought Peter was just an intern.”

“Obviously Mr. Parker holds a great deal of respect for the man, and he is foolish to do so. Tony Stark is a loose cannon that destroys everything in its path. He is not the man you wish to respect, Adrien. You will soon learn the difference between great men and dangers to society.” He said. Something about his father’s words was like a slap to Adrien’s face. Disrespecting Iron Man was one thing, but calling Peter foolish? Peter was anything but.

“If your _friend_ ,” Gabriel spat the word out like it left a nasty taste on his tongue, “wants to become a great man himself, he’s idolizing the wrong person.”

“Peter Parker already is a great man!” Adrien yelled, uncertain of what had come over him. “But he’s also a good one. Can’t say the same about you.” And with that final blow, he stormed back up to his room, seething. Peter hadn’t been gone for even ten minutes and already Adrien wanted him to come back more than anything. It was going to be a long weekend.

“Come on,” Plagg nudged Adrien’s toe. His chosen had flopped onto his bed, eagle-spread, and was staring at the ceiling with no intent of bringing himself back to reality any time soon.

“What?” Adrien sighed. “Peter’s gone.”

“For _two days_. You used to do all sorts of things before Peter lived with us.”

“Like. What.”

“Good question,” Plagg responded. “You stared at your little annoying electronic box a lot, I remember that. You also had other friends.”

“Nino and Alya are hanging out this evening,” Adrien groaned. “And I don’t have patrol for another four hours. And I’ve just rowed with my dad, so he’s going to be mad all week. God, why did I do that?”

“Because he dragged Iron Man and Peter’s names through the mud,” Plagg supplied. “And you’re not the sort to just sit there and let Peter get disrespected like that.”

“Yeah, I’m not!” Adrien agreed, sitting up. “I should go tell him that!”

“I’m not saying go fight your dad _again_ , as interesting as that would be, I think it’s best you do something to clear your head.” Adrien raised an eyebrow, fixing his kwami with a questioning look.

“It’s not like you to actually give good advice. Is something wrong?”

“I always give the perfect advice, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Plagg folded his arms across his chest. “The last piece of advice I gave you was to stop sticking your tongue down Marinette’s throat if you were trying to get with Ladybug and that was great advice.”

“Marinette!” Adrien said, grabbing his phone. “I can totally ask her to hangout!”

Plagg sighed loudly, zooming away as Adrien sent a quick text off to Marinette. While he awaited her response, he opened his gallery app, looking at the photo he’d taken with Iron Man and Peter. It was glorious. Perhaps he’d print it out, frame it, and stick it next to the photo of him and Marinette that Peter had taken. His collections of photos with Peter was fast growing, but Adrien didn’t mind much.

Photos of him and Peter before the dance, him and Peter in those ridiculous outfits they’d purchased for each other, him and Peter just talking (captured by Alya). It was like Peter had always been there. He fit so perfectly into Adrien’s life.

Adrien hadn’t had the chance to reveal himself as Chat Noir yet, but he was definitely planning to. Peter was no stranger to the world of superheroes, it was a wonder he hadn’t figured it out yet. Or maybe he had, and was just too polite to say anything. Adrien had ran his plan by Plagg, who agreed with him entirely, surprisingly enough.

Peter and Tony Stark being close didn’t derail his plan in the slightest. He trusted Peter implicitly. It was like they were soulmates of the friend sort, meant to be brought together, despite the fact they’d lived on opposite ends of the world and spoken different languages.

Adrien’s phone buzzed and he snatched it up. Marinette had agreed to hang out.

“Let’s go, Plagg! I’m meeting Marinette in the park!” He quickly transformed, slipping out the window and making his way through the city, doing his best to avoid being recognized before finally touching down behind a tree in the park and detransforming. Marinette was already standing by the fountain, gripping her phone and looking around anxiously.

“Adrien!” She squeaked as he approached. “What’s going on?”

“I thought we could just hangout?” Adrien scratched the back of his neck. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“You just texted me ‘can you meet me in the park right now?’. I thought something had happened.”

“Nope! Peter’s gone back to New York for the weekend, so I could use someone to hangout with. If you’re busy, though, that’s fine too!” Maybe this was a mistake. Marinette hadn’t always been super open with him and she had a tendency to avoid him. Maybe she didn’t want to hangout after all and Adrien had misread their friendship.

“I’d love to hangout!” Marinette assured him. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yes!” Adrien leapt at the title. “Friends. Do you wanna go get ice cream?”

“Sure.” She smiled at him as they headed off to the bridge where Andre’s ice cream cart was usually parked. “So, what’s been new with you? I feel like we haven’t properly talked since….” Her voice trailed off.

“Ever?” Adrien supplied. “I mean, we talk sometimes, but not much about our lives. Let’s change that now.”

“Yeah.” Marinette fiddled with her purse. “I’ve been good.”

“Working on any new designs?” Adrien asked, watching her eyes light up at the mention of her hobby.

“Yeah! I’ve actually been working on something for Peter! I feel like everyone’s got one of my designs, and I don’t want him to be left out or anything. Plus, he’s got a funny sense of style.”

“He’ll wear anything,” Adrien rolled his eyes as they reached Andre, purchasing their respective ice creams and taking a seat on the bridge. “Literally anything. You could give him a shirt that says ‘I eat trash’ on it and he’d wear it.”

Marinette laughed. “Somehow I don’t doubt that.”

“No matter what it is, he’ll love it. I know I love all the designs you’ve given me. The jacket you made for my birthday this year, and the scarf you made me last year-”

“You know about the scarf?” Marinette’s eyes went wide.

“You sign everything you make, Marinette. Peter pointed it out to me when I showed it to him. Why didn’t you say anything? I completely thought it was from my dad.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to do it! You looked so happy, thinking it was from your dad, I didn’t want to be the one to take that away from you.”

“I should’ve realized. There’s no way he would ever do something like that,” Adrien muttered.

“What?” Marinette asked, her concerned gaze burning a hole through the side of his head as Adrien stared at his ice cream.

“Nothing, I just meant to say thanks.” He gave her a smile that he hoped masked his true emotions. The mere thought of his dad was completely ruining his outing with his friend. “It was a great scarf, thanks so much for it.”

“No problem?” Marinette said. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it or anything? You seem kinda upset.”

“No!” Adrien said a little too sharply. “Sorry, I mean no, I’d honestly rather not think about him right now, or ever for that matter. To change the topic, I met Iron Man today!” He pulled his phone out, showing her the picture.

“No way! Iron Man was in your house?” Marinette zoomed in on the screen, taking in Tony Stark’s face.

“Turns out he’s essentially Peter’s dad. He came all this way just to fly Peter back to New York and was wearing a shirt Peter bought him when he was in London. It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen.”

“Peter’s pretty close with Spiderman too, and Iron Man is like, Spiderman’s mentor, isn’t he? So I guess it only makes sense.” Marinette shrugged. “Are you two going to the lock-in at the school?”

Adrien blinked at the abrupt change in topic. “The what?”

“On Hallowe’en, there’s the option to sleep over at the school and they have a bunch of Hallowe’en activities and stuff. It’s a lot of fun, you should go. If you’re allowed.” Marinette glanced at him then hastily glanced away, looking out across the river.

“Sleep over at the school?” Adrien considered it for a moment. He’d have to get one of those…what were they? Bed bags? _No, sleeping bags,_ his subconscious corrected. “I’ll see if I can make it.”

“Great! It’s next Friday.”

“My girlfriend will be so mad, I’ll have to cancel on her,” Adrien said, smiling as he put the event in his phone’s calendar, completely forgetting he very well _couldn’t_ tell Marinette he was dating Ladybug. He hadn’t even asked Ladybug to be his official girlfriend yet. Good god this was about to be an awkward conversation.

“Girlfriend?” Marinette’s tone seemed intentionally light. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”

“Uhhh yeah, it’s a recent development,” Adrien laughed, mildly uncomfortable, but that didn’t stop him from plowing on. “I wish you could meet her. She’s the funniest person I’ve ever met, as well as one of the strongest. She’s so smart and beautiful and I swear she’s the most perfect human being I’ve ever met.”

“That’s great, Adrien. That’s really great.” Marinette stood suddenly.”It’s been great hanging out, but I’ve really gotta go. I forgot that there was something I needed…to do….”

“Oh!” Adrien stood up in suit. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to distract you.”

“No, it’s all good!” Marinette waved the hand that wasn’t holding her ice cream in the air. “I just have homework that I completely forgot about!”

“It’s the weekend,” Adrien pointed out.

“I’m sorry Adrien.” She pursed her lips in thought for a split second, then jogged off, leaving Adrien all alone on the bridge and thoroughly confused as to what had just happened.

“What was that about?” Adrien asked Plagg as he began his long trek back home. All that and he’d only managed to kill two hours.

“The problem is you’re an idiot,” Plagg’s nasally voice informed him, still hidden inside his shirt.

“How am I the idiot here?”

“Girls tend not to like it when you talk about your girlfriends in front of them.”

“That’s ridiculous! Marinette and I are friends. If she had a boyfriend, she’d talk about him too, I’m sure.” Adrien ignored Plagg’s exasperated huff that followed his sentence. “Either way, this weekend is going to _suck_.”

“Yeah, I forgot how hard it is to deal with you twenty-four seven. I want Peter back.”

“You literally can’t talk to Peter. He doesn’t know you exist.”

“I don’t care, he was way funnier than you, plus he actually has some deductive reasoning skills.”

“Oh, like you do.” Adrien rolled his eyes, calling Plagg to transform him so he could slip back inside through his window. Monday couldn’t come soon enough.

* * *

“What was that about?” Tikki asked, concerned, as Marinette ran further and further away from where she’d left Adrien.

Marinette didn’t answer until she was far away from the bridge, sliding into an alley. “I thought I was over Adrien. And then he started talking about his girlfriend and I don’t know…I really do like Chat but a part of me was still jealous.”

She glanced down at Tikki, hoping for some direction, but the kwami continued to look at her with sympathetic eyes.

“Which is completely ridiculous because I’ve got a _very_ caring boyfriend, if you could call Chat that, whom I am very much attracted to, but I just couldn’t sit there and listen to Adrien gush about whatever girl he’s in love with. And I knew all along he liked someone else, he told me as much, but it never seemed so real. I’m with Chat and Adrien is with…someone else.”

“It’s normal not to be over Adrien entirely just yet. You liked him for a long time,” Tikki pointed out. “As long as you’re both happy, that’s what matters, right?”

“I guess,” Marinette shrugged, ducking out of the alley and heading home. “This is just me being stupid. I feel like I’m letting Chat down by not being one hundred percent committed to the idea of being in love with him just yet. But I still like him lots. And I’m not in love with Adrien anymore. That’s progress.”

“That’s the right mindset!” Tikki encouraged. “Chat doesn’t expect you to fall head-over-heels right away! He said so himself.”

Marinette blushed at the memory of the last interaction she’d had with Chat. She’d stayed out all night with him, asleep in his arms. The very thought made her heart beat faster. If her parents ever found out, she’d be _so_ dead. It was a miracle they hadn’t realized already.

For some reason, Marinette had the strong desire to tell Spiderman about her and Chat’s relationship. He obviously knew they were together, but she felt bad making him third-wheel all the time. Even so, Spidey was easy to talk to. Plus she could talk to him about all aspects of her life, unfiltered. The only other being she could do that with was Tikki, and as great as Tikki was, she couldn’t always understand Marinette’s more human actions. Spiderman, however, seemed to know everything there was to know about anything. Maybe it was because he had a computer within his suit or maybe he was just naturally better spoken than she could ever be. Either way, she couldn’t wait to see him at patrols to talk to him.

Ladybug landed atop their usual roof early, entirely prepared for Spiderman to be waiting for her. To her surprise, the Parisian skyline appeared to be a Spidey-free zone that night. There was no sign of him, nor the webs that usually followed his path.

“Do you know what happened to Spiderman?” She asked Chat the second he arrived.

“No?” He looked around, equally as confused as her. “He’s usually here early. Maybe something came up.”

“He usually messages us.” Marinette frowned, sliding her yoyo open in case she’d missed something from their masked friend. Nothing. “What if he’s in danger.”

“He’s probably fine,” Chat said. “Maybe Peter Parker is busy and he can’t suit up.”

“I highly doubt-” Marinette started, before her yoyo interrupted her with a loud rendition of Wonderwall. Her brow creased. She hated that song, so why was her yoyo playing it? _How_ was her yoyo playing it?

“You’ve got an incoming video call,” Chat pointed out. “Must’ve customized his ringtone.”

Ladybug picked up, eyes widening as Spiderman’s face filled the screen.

“What’s up, gang?” Sounds of battle leaked through the connection, and Marinette could catch glimpses of something that looked suspiciously like Iron Man. Oh right, Peter had gone to New York for the weekend, Adrien had said. So did that mean that Spidey was currently in New York as well?

“Hey Spidey,” Marinette said, turning her yoyo to Chat quickly so he could offer his greetings before turning it back to her own face. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just mildly preoccupied at the moment,” he said, then her view tilted as Spiderman did a backflip, swinging through the air.

“Kid! Get OFF your phone!” The unmistakable voice of Iron Man bellowed from somewhere off camera.

“I’m video chatting with my friends!”

“In the middle of battle?”

“It’s not like anything interesting is happen- WHOA!” Spiderman swerved to the side as a school bus flew past his head. “Okay, maybe I’d better go. Long story short, I can’t make it tonight! Terribly sorry. Nor will I be able to make it all weekend, I gotta let Peter Parker enjoy his vacation.”

“Oh no, enjoy your time off too,” Marinette waved away his apology. “Now go focus before you get seriously injured.”

“I’d like to see them try. You should see the guys we’re fighting tonight! They’re all idiots.”

“Idiots with nuclear weapons!” Once again Tony Stark yelled. “Focus, Spiderman! Say goodbye to your friends!”

“See ya,” Spidey said. “I’ll be back on Monday, try not to burn down the city without me, and try not to melt Chat’s brain further, each time I see him it’s closer to turning liquid and running out his nose. À plus tard!” The screen on Marinette’s yoyo turned black and she slid it shut.

“Well, that was certainly an experience.” She put her hands on her hips, turning to Chat.

“He was fighting alongside Iron Man!” Chat practically squealed, hands clasped so tightly his own claws were digging into his flesh. “Do you think we’ll ever get to fight with Iron Man?”

“I’m not sure we want to,” Marinette raised an eyebrow, strolling closer to the edge of the roof. “But enough about that, it’s patrol time, chaton.”

“Whatttt?” Chat looked positively scandalized. “Not even one kiss? It’s been an entire day since I last saw you.”

“Last time we hung out was nothing but trouble. I was late to class.” Marinette gave him her best disapproving stare, but it was crippled by the fact that she wasn’t mad in the slightest.

“I seem to remember you being the one who made us later than we would’ve been had we simply gotten up and left once we’d woken up.” Chat fixed her with a massive grin that looked like it could split his face in half. Against her better judgement, Marinette blushed.

“I seem to remember you kissing _me_ first.”

“And it would’ve been quick if you hadn’t apparently had the best dream of all time,” Chat countered, slowly beginning to prowl closer to her, circling her where she stood. Like he was a shark and she a dying seal.

“It was not the ‘best dream of all time’,” she made finger quotes in the air, imitating his voice. “You don’t even know what it was about, nor will you ever get to, because we have a job to do. And work comes before everything else.”

“What’s got you concerned about patrol all of a sudden?” He sidled up to her, green eyes catching hers with ease. “I thought we established this is hangout time for us.”

She rolled her eyes, looking away from him with no small amount of difficulty. “Well, that was when Spiderman was around. He’s obviously off in New York now, so we can’t rely on him to save our asses if we slack off.”

“I‘ll take that chance,” Chat tried to sneak an arm around her waist, but Marinette spun away from him before he could so much as make contact with her. She had to be the responsible one here, as much as she really didn’t want to.

“I won’t. Patrols first, then whatever else you’ve got up your sleeve.”

“Up my sleeves? You’ve seen how skintight this suit is, if there was anything up my sleeves you’d notice in an instant.” He winked, grabbing his baton. “But if My Lady wishes to do patrol first, who am I to refuse her?” Chat swept into a sort of bow before running off into the night.

Marinette sighed, whipping her yoyo out and beginning her route. The city glowed beneath her feet as she flew along, wind picking up and helping her swing further through the sea of houses and buildings. It was so peaceful at night, a completely different world than the daytime. At night, everything seemed so easy, all her problems hidden in the shadows. Very rarely was the Papillon awake and active at this hour, so patrols were less of an actual hunt for danger and more of a professional courtesy that gave her time to think.

Tonight, she felt like she was missing something. Something big. She had no idea what, or how it would impact her, but the back of her brain was nagging at her, telling her to open her eyes. Her only problem was that she had no idea where she was supposed to start looking, or what she would find.

She landed by la Seine, not too far away from where she’d left Adrien, but that interaction was far from her mind now. Now this mysterious piece of information, one too vague for her to remember, was taunting her. And the moon’s reflection on the water offered no insight, but it did offer a pretty view.

“Penny for your thoughts, My Lady?” Chat had found her, his voice soft as he landed beside her.

“I haven’t got any,” Marinette lied, her gaze still fixed on the dark water. “Just enjoying the nice night.”

“It’s a bit windy, makes it difficult for me to use my baton.” She heard the telltale sounds of his baton closing. “Is something wrong?”

“No.” She finally turned to face her kitty, corners of her mouth turning upwards as she laid eyes on him. “Today’s just been a long day.”

“Wanna sit?” Chat gestured to a bench a few metres away. “You don’t have to talk about it or anything if you don’t want to, sometimes just having someone be there is all you need.”

She nodded once, walking over to the bench and sitting down, leaning into Chat as he joined her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Thankfully her tumult of thoughts quieted, sinking somewhere at the back of her mind. “Thanks, minou.”

“Anything for My Lady,” he replied, thumb stroking her shoulder. “Also, I kinda called you my girlfriend today. I didn’t mention you by name or anything, but I said I had a girlfriend, and I meant you, so would you like to be? My girlfriend, I mean.” He coughed on his own words as they tumbled out, and Marinette glanced at him, surprised. Well, she could no longer lie to herself about what Chat meant to her. Now she had to figure it out, and soon, because Chat was waiting for an answer.

“Uhhhh,” she said, mind racing once more. _Answer him!!!_ Her subconscious screamed at her. “Run that by me one more time?”

Chat’s eyes were wide, equal parts nervous and sincere as he repeated himself. “Would you, Ladybug, be my girlfriend.”

“Yes,” Marinette heard herself saying. That was that, then. She was Chat Noir’s girlfriend. He was her boyfriend. There was no confusion there. So why did she still feel like she was missing out on something?

“That didn’t sound very enthusiastic…,” Chat’s voice drew her back to the present. “Sorry, I should’ve done more, like gotten you flowers or something, I shouldn’t have sprung it on you like that so soon. I messed up, sorry.” He retracted his arm from around her, placing both his hands in his lap, fiddling with his fingers.

“No, Chat, what?” He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “No, I’m sorry. Like I said, it’s been a day. I didn’t mean to make you feel like…god, I didn’t mean to make you feel like I didn’t want this.” She reached out, placing both her hands atop his. “You don’t need to buy me flowers or make any grand gestures, you’re Chat Noir, my superhero boyfriend, and that’s always going to be so much more than I deserve.”

“Ladybug, you deserve the best.”

“And I’ve got it.”

Finally Chat looked up at her, eyes swimming with a thousand emotions. “I’m pretty sure Spiderman is a better partner than me.”

“Spiderman could never be a better partner than you. He’s not Chat Noir. You are. And you know me better than anyone. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count. No one could ever be better than you, Chat. You know that. Plus, you’re my _boyfriend._ ”

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that,” Chat smiled at her. “Even though I can’t tell anyone, just the thought that _Ladybug is my girlfriend…_ Let’s just say I could’ve died a happy man after you kissed me for the first time, and now this is just icing on the cake.”

“You’re an idiot.” Marinette rolled her eyes, then kissed him. She’d barely gotten into it when a low rumbling interrupted her.

“What was that?” She pulled back, looking at Chat, her eyebrows drawing together in worry.

“Stupid cat,” Chat mumbled as the rumbling grew louder, along with his blush.

“Are you purring again?” She’d only heard him purr once before, and he’d stopped almost instantly at the time. The instance had been so short, she’d almost written it off as a realistic dream. But this time there was no mistaking it.

“Unfortunately.” Chat looked less than pleased. “Sorry, it happens when I’m…I don’t know. Happy or whatever.”

“Awww.” Marinette pressed a chaste kiss to the tip of his nose. “That’s adorable.”

“It’s bad enough that it’s something that happens, and now both you _and_ Spiderman have heard me sound like an idiot cat and now-”

“Wait,” she interrupted. “When were you purring around _Spiderman_?”

“I was, uh, talking about you. After you called me cute over text. Was not my finest moment.” Marinette giggled. Poor Chat, getting all flustered. He really was adorable. How had it taken her that long to realize it?

They talked aimlessly until Ladybug’s miraculous went off, cueing her exit. Leaving Chat felt harder that time, somehow. He was her rock now, the thing that kept her stable, even in the strongest of winds.

As soon as she detransformed back in her bedroom, Tikki obviously wanted to talk.

“So, you’re Chat Noir’s girlfriend now?” She beamed up at Marinette.

“I really wasn’t expecting him to ask me tonight, but yeah. Yeah I am.” She shot her kwami a grin. “I’m going to go take a bath now.” And she did take a bath, but mainly as an excuse to leave her kwami in the bedroom. She needed to call Spiderman, someone who knew what it was like to be in the suit and human outside it.

So she pressed the call button on her superhero phone, hoping he would pick up.

“Yo,” Spiderman answered on the second ring. “What’s up, ‘bug?”

“Chat Noir asked me to be his girlfriend,” Marinette blurted, immediately regretting how abrupt she was coming off. “Sorry, I mean how are you, Spidey?”

“We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you and Chat now.” She could practically hear his grin over the phone. “So did you say yes?”

“Of course I said yes, we were already dating!” She stepped into her bath, being careful to avoid dropping her phone in the tub, keeping it pressed to her ear.

“So then why are you calling me? You literally could’ve just texted. Talking on the phone stresses me out.”

“I guess I could’ve texted,” Marinette agreed hesitantly. “Wait, you’re a literal superhero who faces death on a daily basis and you’re scared of talking on the phone?”

“I’m not scared of it, I’d just rather not. But you’re dodging the question.” His voice sounded strained.

“Um, what are you doing right now?”

“Currently? I’m climbing up the Empire State Building. It’s a bit exerting.”

“Oh.” Marinette didn’t know what to say to that, and decided not to ask him if he was fighting someone. “Well, I called because I’m worried that it will get to the point where Chat will want to reveal our identities, more than he already wants to. I mean, our relationship can’t really progress if we never reveal ourselves, can it?”

“And the concept of him knowing scares you.” It wasn’t a question. “Trust me, Ladybug, he’ll still love you no matter who you turn out to be. And when the time is right, I think you will have to tell each other who you are. Not necessarily because of your relationship, but also because we have to stop the Papillon. And I’m not sure that will be able to happen if both of you still don’t know each other.”

“Master Fu always told me that if Chat Noir and I knew each other’s identities, we would be putting ourselves in danger.”

“Master Fu has told me differently.” Spiderman’s offhanded comment almost made Marinette drop her phone.

“You know Master Fu?”

“We’ve interacted a few times. Shit!” Spiderman swore vehemently. “Not you, I’m just currently free falling off a building and my web-shooter’s jammed itself. There we go.” He let out a long cheer and Marinette could just picture the scene in her head. Spiderman swinging above New York, running atop cars and along the sides of buildings. The mental picture made her smile.

“What did he tell you?”

“No can do, Lady. But what I can tell you is not to worry. That’s a long way off now. Just enjoy what you’ve got going on with Chat while you can. Don’t worry about identities and reveals for now, you’ll know when that time comes. Now I’ve really gotta go, because Mr. Stark will kill me if he finds out I’m on my phone and swinging at the same time, which I don’t get because he does it literally all the time! Pot, kettle, you know. Anyways, bye! See you soon. Bisous or whatever!”

Their brief conversation had left Marinette with far more questions than she’d called with. Since when were Spiderman and the Guardian on casual speaking terms? How had they met, and most importantly, why were they discussing strategy to defeat the Papillon without her?

She was definitely missing whatever made it necessary for her to see the bigger picture, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it, and it was starting to annoy her. And now Spiderman was keeping secrets. And his secrets were the worst kind, because he actually kept them.

* * *

Peter had barely gotten one foot in the door of the Agreste mansion before Adrien tackled him in a hug.

“You’re back!” Adrien exclaimed, like Peter had been lost at sea for years.

“Boring weekend, I take it?” Peter didn’t really think it could’ve been _that_ boring. After all, Adrien had apparently acquired a girlfriend while Peter was away, a girlfriend that he would’ve seen every night that he didn’t see Peter.

“Super boring,” Adrien agreed, following Peter up to his room. “By the way, my dad is not super happy that you’re Tony Stark’s, like, foster son. I’m just surprised, to be honest. I didn’t think you two were that close.”

“We’re well acquainted,” Peter said simply, flopping down on his bed. As great as it had been to see Ned and Aunt May for the few days he was back in NYC, he’d sure missed his wonderful room and cloud-like bedding.

“He wore the shirt.”

“Of course he wore the shirt, it was hilarious.” Peter pulled out his phone. “Alya texted me about an hour ago, asking if we’re going to the ‘lock-in’ at the school this coming weekend for Halloween. Are we?”

“Uh, yeah, I thought we could go. It sounded fun, sleeping over at the school, watching scary movies with our friends, that sort of thing.”

“Great! I’ll tell her we’ll be there.” Peter typed up a message to Alya, confirming his and Adrien’s attendance. She’d be thrilled.

“We’ve just gotta convince my dad.” Adrien’s shoulders slumped. Obviously something had happened with his dad whilst Peter was gone. And Peter had a horrible feeling that maybe it had something to do with him being Tony Stark’s apprentice. 

“Wrong,” Peter said, still texting Alya. “We’ve got to convince _Nathalie,_ then Nathalie will convince your dad. And lucky for you, Nathalie loves me.”

“No, no she doesn’t.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” Peter shut off his phone with a click and sat up. “Also lucky for you, I’ve always got a plan. Just give me an hour.”

An hour later, they found Nathalie in the dining room, typing something up on her tablet. Peter wasted no time with his sales pitch.

“Okay, listen up.” He set his laptop down on the table carefully, pressing ‘start’ on the PowerPoint presentation he had helpfully prepared to help convince Nathalie that Adrien staying overnight at the school was not only a good idea, but would be beneficial to his cognitive development.

“What is this, Mr. Parker?” Nathalie frowned up at him, eyes darting between the overly-confident Peter and the timid Adrien who was mostly hiding behind him.

“When you think of childhood, do you look fondly back on school sanctioned events? I know I sure do.” Peter launched into his speech, going through his hastily-made slides, most of which bared only a title and a mildly related picture, but Peter didn’t falter once.

“And that’s why Adrien not only should go to this event, but he _needs_ to for the betterment of his self-confidence!” Peter completed, closing his laptop with a satisfying noise.

“Well,” Nathalie started as she stood up, smoothing out her jacket. “You seem to know a lot about psychology and the positives of social interaction.” She eyed Peter almost suspiciously.

“I know a lot about a lot of things.” Peter could do nothing but grin. He’d sold her, he knew it.

“I’ll have to talk to your father,” Nathalie addressed Adrien. “But I don’t think it will be too much of a problem to convince him to let you go to this… ‘lock-in’ event.”

“Really?” Adrien said. “Thank you, Nathalie!”

Nathalie’s gaze softened as she looked at him, then she left, headed off in the direction of Mr. Agreste’s study.

“No way!” Adrien pumped his fist in the air, eyes shining as he looked at Peter. “I can’t believe you managed to convince her!”

“I could back it up with science and I convinced her that it would be more than just a fun time.” Peter winked. “Am I your best friend, or am I your best friend?”

“You’re my best friend,” Adrien confirmed. “I can’t wait.”

Peter suited up reluctantly that night. He’d spent most of his weekend as Spiderman, and although he loved fighting by Tony’s side, it did tire him out eventually. But he’d skipped out on a lot of patrols lately, so he owed it to Ladybug and Chat Noir to at least make an appearance, not matter how brief, that night.

So he was first to the meeting spot, as per usual, tonight wearing his black Eiffel Tower hoodie. The wind was unusually strong tonight, and it ruffled through the fabric, his hood routinely falling off his head until Peter decided to just leave it down.

“Where are they?” Suluu asked, hidden somewhere within the neckline of his hoodie.

“I don’t know,” Peter replied. “But I’m also pretty early.”

“I’m so glad to be back in Paris,” Suluu sighed, her voice wistful.

“Not a fan of New York?”

“Peter, you saw me get eaten by that massive pigeon, right?”

Peter laughed at the memory. His little kwami had decided to join him on a mission instead of resting with Ned back at his apartment, and Suluu had promptly been swallowed by a fat pigeon that had mistaken Suluu for god knows what. Suluu had then had to phase out of the bird’s stomach, covered in spit and thoroughly disgusted. And she hadn’t stopped complaining about it since.

“If you’d just stayed with Ned and my Aunt May that wouldn’t have happened,” he pointed out.

“I find it weird enough that you just _told_ them about me, let alone the fact that they barely even reacted.” Suluu nudged his collarbone.

“I’ve learned it’s best to not keep secrets from them. They always find out in the end, anyways. Plus, they’ve seen their fair share of crazy these past few years with me being Spiderman and all.”

“You didn’t tell Tony about me.”

“Yeah, well that’s probably for the best. Mr. Stark likes to understand things; to be able to account for things with science. I think you’re a little outside his realm of expertise.”

“Who are you talking to?” Ladybug’s voice startled Peter and he jumped.

“M-my suit?” He stammered, trying to slow his heart rate down.

“So you _can_ be snuck up on!” She laughed, gripping her own stomach. Peter frowned, waiting for her to stop before he continued his explanation.

“Well, I was actually a bit distracted, talking about my schedule.” He folded his arms, giving her a look he thought looked quite judging but probably didn’t come across as well on his suit’s expression.

“You talk to your suit?” Ladybug peered at his suit’s eyes, as if she’d be able to see inside if she looked close enough.

“Yeah, I’ve got a suit lady. Her name is Karen.”

“And she talks back?”

“Yeah…? She’s artificial intelligence crafted by Tony Stark himself. Of course she talks back.”

Ladybug looked even more confused, but didn’t have time to ask anymore questions, as Chat chose that moment to show up.

“What’s going on?” He asked, twirling his baton by his side.

“Nothing much,” Peter shrugged, then remembered something important he should _probably_ do to keep everyone’s identities in place. “Patrol next weekend is cancelled in the interest of keeping everyone’s identities secured, by the way.”

“What?” Ladybug looked at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean everyone is busy next weekend for whatever reason, and you two are so bad at giving excuses I think that you’d accidentally give away your identities if I let you explain why you won’t be there. So I’m simply telling you that patrol is cancelled.”

“Makes sense,” Chat shrugged. “Glad to have you back, Spidey.”

“I’ve only been gone for what, two nights?” Peter flicked Chat’s bell. Chat frowned at the intrusion.

“Yeah, and it was the longest two nights of my life,” Chat lamented.

“Guys, we have patrol to do,” Ladybug reminded them. “We can catch up later.”

The rest of the week was entirely uneventful in Peter’s opinion. A few akuma attacks here and there, but nothing memorable. He politely gave Chat and Ladybug their alone time after patrols and the likes, but he couldn’t help smiling like he knew something they didn’t whenever he saw them interact in civilian form. And he did know something they didn’t, in every definition of the phrase.

“Lock-in tonight!” Adrien exclaimed, excitedly pacing around Peter’s room. It had been a surprise to the both of them that Mr. Agreste had agreed to let Adrien go with no extra terms and conditions. Peter had asked Tony to bring them sleeping bags and Iron Man had definitely delivered, gifting the two boys state-of-the-art sleeping bags with the Stark Industries logo emblazoned on them. They even had built-in pillows.

“Yessir.” Peter was currently accumulating everything he would need. Alya had told him about the night’s main event; a heist. Peter didn’t know the details, as the teachers had kept it extra secretive to the point that Alya, the nosiest person in Paris, couldn’t even figure out what they were planning. So Peter was taking it upon himself to be prepared for anything.

“What is that?” Adrien pointed to the cylindrical canister Peter was holding.

“Oh, you know.” Peter shook the canister. “Liquid nitrogen.”

“Why on earth do you have that and _why_ are you bringing it to the lock-in?”

“Because liquid nitrogen is great for breaking into things. Like a cat burglar.”

“Peter, what the hell. It’s a school event.” Adrien shook his head.

“Fine, no liquid nitrogen.” Peter frowned, carefully placing the canister back into his bedside table’s drawer. “What are you bringing, if not liquid nitrogen?”

Adrien listed the usual things, the usual _boring_ things, and Peter nodded along, typing away at his computer, hacking into the school’s security system. It would come in handy later, with the heist.

Because Peter played to win, and it wasn’t his fault that Adrien was completely unprepared to have his ass kicked.

They stopped by the grocery store before heading to the school that evening, Peter completely stocking up on snacks. Adrien just watched him with an bemused expression.

“I’m sure they’ll have food there,” he laughed as Peter grabbed a few cans of soup.

Peter snorted. “Small comfort.”

The cashier watched with amusement as Peter and Adrien tried to shove all the food into Peter’s backpack before giving up and asking for a plastic bag.

“Why’d you bring your laptop?” Adrien asked as he zipped up the backpack with no small amount of difficulty.

“That laptop has lots of sensitive information on it. I wasn’t just going to leave it at your house.” That was only partially true. Peter also had the same desktop projected onto the computers that the Agrestes had provided for him when he arrived. It was all password-protected and as difficult to crack as the entire Stark Industries security system. No nosy assistants would be getting into it. But it did have lots of sensitive information on it, like a backdoor to every security system in the world, as well as access to all of Iron Man’s satellites and technology. Which is why Peter thought the laptop would come in handy.

“You guys made it!” Alya greeted them as they reached the school. Everyone was already setting up in the library, excitedly chattering amongst themselves.

“Any word on the heist?” Peter whispered to her. Alya shook her head.

“I tried to worm it out of Mme. Bustier, but she wouldn’t tell me anything!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Adrien glanced between them.

“Orcas,” Peter said, at the same time Alya said, “Guns.”

“Guns?” Peter whipped his head around to look at her. “Why on earth would we be talking about guns?”

“Why would we be talking about orcas?” She countered.

“Let’s set up over here,” Adrien dragged Peter to a corner of the library, ignoring his two friends’ antics and pulling out his sleeping bag. It was folded flat, looking more like a folded t-shirt than a sleeping bag.

Peter pulled his own out, throwing it towards the ground. Just as he’d expected, it exploded outwards, expanding and filling with air to make the comfiest looking sleeping bags ever.

“Whoa!” Alya said as Adrien mimicked Peter’s actions, his own sleeping bag setting itself up. “How’d you get Stark Industries sleeping bags? These are literally like the Chanel boots of the camping world!”

“Me and Mr. Stark are hella tight,” Peter supplied, bouncing on his makeshift bed and opening a packet of Fuzzy Peaches. His body was a temple, and Peter only gave it the tastiest of snacks.

“Peter, those are disgusting.” Alya frowned at his candy choices. To spite her, Peter dumped the entire bag into his mouth at once, ignoring the way the sour candies stung and scraped up the inside of his mouth.

“Hey guys!” Marinette found their little nook, dragging her own sleeping bag behind her.

“Hrffgh Mrfrntt,” Peter said around the mouthful of gummies that was now cementing his jaw shut.

“What?” Marinette blinked at him, concerned.

“Peter’s just eaten about a hundred grams of candy all at once,” Adrien explained, annoyingly cohesive as Peter struggled to clear his mouth.

“And I lived to tell the tale!” Peter gasped, downing the water bottle he’d brought along. “This is a success story, be sure to tell everyone what you saw here today.”

“You’re an inspiration to us all,” Alya deadpanned.

“Everyone gather around!” Mme. Bustier called.

“Heist time!” Peter and Alya said in unison, exchanging a mischievous look. Peter was beyond ready.

“Heist time?” Marinette and Adrien were so confused, their poor, simple minds. Peter would’ve felt bad if he wasn’t so determined to win.

“Yes, and just like I beat you all in dodgeball, I’m going to be the champignon of this heist!”

“Peter, champion is the same in French.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “You just called yourself a mushroom.”

“And I meant it!” Peter said, slightly louder, as they joined the collective. “I mean everything I say.”

“Okay everyone!” Mme. Bustier clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “As some of you have heard, the main activity of tonight will be a heist! Somewhere in this school, a safe with a crown has been hidden. You will be placed in teams of three, your names drawn from a hat so that it’s entirely random. Whoever has the crown in their possession at ten pm will be the winner!”

Peter checked the time. It was almost six. Four hours was plenty of time to win, no matter who his team was. He could honestly work with anyone.

“Sucks that you can’t rig these teams,” Adrien whispered, his shoulder bumping against Peter’s.

“I could’ve if I’d had more warning,” Peter hissed back.

“Our first team!” Mme. Bustier said, grabbing a top hat that was filled with papers and fishing around in it. “Adrien Agreste!”

Adrien raised his hand. “Here!”

“This…isn’t attendance.” Peter glanced at his friend.

“Sorry, force of habit.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” Mme. Bustier continued. “And Nino Lahiffe! You three are team number one!”

“Good luck mate,” Peter clapped Adrien on the back.

“Team two! Peter Parker, Alya Césaire-”

“Hell yeah!” Alya and Peter high-fived, Peter already mentally adjusting his plan to accommodate Alya’s strengths.

“- and Chloé Bourgeois.”

“What?” Peter said, all his plans crashing around him as he turned to face the snobby blond. She didn’t look too pleased about being paired up with him either, glaring at him from across the room as Mme. Bustier finished assigning the teams. He could not, in fact, work with anyone.

“You have ten minutes to strategize with your teams. The heist begins at six o’clock!” And with that Mme. Bustier exited the library.

“This is ridiculous!” Chloé complained as she joined them. “Utterly ridiculous!”

“Hey, we’re not too psyched about having you on our team either,” Alya snipped. “If you ruin this for us just because you’re too lame to have fun then I’ll-”

“Ruin it?” Chloé interrupted. “Lame? Do you know who my father is? My daddy is the mayor of-”

“Paris, yeah yeah we got it, sunshine.” It was Peter’s turn to interrupt. “I’m Iron Man’s apprentice though, so if we’re gonna ‘my horse is bigger than your horse’ this bitch, I’m gonna win every time. Chloé, can you please just actually participate? Who knows, you might even have fun. Plus Adrien seems to think you’re cool enough to be friends with, and I’d really like to meet the cool side of Chloé. The snobby side is eh, so so.” He tilted his hand in the air. “But boss bitch Chloé, she’s someone I could fuck with.”

“Do you just say words all the time?” Chloé rolled her eyes at him. “What does that even mean?”

“All speaking is just saying words all the time.” Peter folded his arms. “I’m just saying it would be cool if you participated.”

Chloé glared at him with intense eye contact and Peter stared back, determined not to be the first to look away. And he wasn’t. Within a few moments, Chloé sighed.

“Fine, but if you ruin my hair, Parker, I won’t hesitate to make your life miserable.”

“I’d really like to see you try.” Peter’s cheerful tone didn’t waver. “So now that we’re on the same page, as soon as we’re allowed to leave the library we’re headed to a little place I found. I’ll explain my master plan there.” As soon as Mme. Bustier opened the library door, Peter grabbed Alya and Chloé and ran to the boiler room.

It had creepy vibes, shrouded in shadows with a tall column in the middle and various devices lining the walls, but not much else. Like the rest of the school, all the lights were off.

“I don’t like it down here,” Alya whispered, like someone was listening.

“Neither does anyone else. That’s why it’s the perfect base.” Peter grinned at her.

“Ack!” Chloé jumped backwards into Peter and he caught her before they could both go crashing to the ground. “I think I saw something move!”

“Chloé, it’s your shadow.” The column in the middle emitted a blue light; the physical boiler, Peter assumed. It made all their shadows look mildly grotesque and definitely inhuman. Yep, it was the perfect hideout.

“What are we doing down here anyways?” Alya asked.

“I’m glad you asked,” Peter said, pulling out his laptop and accessing the school’s security cameras. “Live footage of the whole school. You’ll stay here and make sure no one intercepts me and Chloé. Chloé will be providing the distraction if needed while we grab the crown.”

“I have to stay here…alone?” Alya looked around the room, her usually brown skin appearing pale in the weak lighting.

“Girl, I’ve seen you chase down supervillains armed with nothing more than a camera. You’ll be fine.” Peter reached into his pocket, withdrawing three small earbuds. “Plus, we’ve got Stark technology. Communicators with unlimited range.”

“Why don’t we just use our phones?” Chloé asked, frowning at the earbud Peter handed her.

“Because phones are bulky, and we’re leaving our phones with Alya.”

“Leave my phone? With Césaire?” Chloé scrunched her nose up in distaste. “Why would I do that?”

“Look,” Peter said, opening a new window on his laptop. “I’ve marked everyone’s cellphones, creating a map of where everyone is, just in case there’s a blind spot on the security cams. And if I can do it, so could anyone else in this school. So to avoid being tracked, we’re leaving them with Alya.”

“You overestimate our collective intelligence,” Alya commented as she accepted Peter and Chloé’s phones. “And it’s a good plan. I just think you’re overlooking one thing.”

“What’s that?” Peter asked.

“We don’t know where the crown is.”

Peter blinked at her before realizing she was serious, then laughed. “Of course we do! It’s in M. Damocles’s office.”

“How do you know that?” Chloé said.

“Realistically, where else would it be? Obviously Monsieur Damocles likes to think that his office is the most secure place in the entire building, therefore that’s where we’ll find our crown.”

“Hmm.” Chloé almost sounded impressed. “But how are we going to get there without being seen?”

“That’s where my aerobic ability comes in handy,” Peter smirked as he put his communicator in. “I hope you’re flexible, Bourgeois.”

The duo emerged from the boiler room and Peter led Chloé into a nearby janitor’s closet.

“What are we doing in here?” Chloé asked, rather condescendingly.

“Ever seen Mission Impossible?” Peter could barely contain his excitement as he tapped his communicator. “How are things looking down there, Alya?”

“They’re good,” she said tentatively over the connection. “I can’t see you guys, though.”

“No cameras in the janitor’s closet, good to know,” Peter breathed. “Okay, Chloé and I are going up into the air vents.”

“We’re what?” Chloé whipped her head around to look at him, smacking him with her ponytail in the process.

“Yeah, like Mission Impossible, or Die Hard if that’s more your forte. Or even Toy Story; I have no idea what sort of movies you like to watch.”

“Like Alien,” Chloé mumbled.

“Yeah! Exactly like that!” Peter carefully plotted out the easiest route from the ground up to the air duct that was rather inconveniently placed near the ceiling. “Just give me one second to get the grate off.”

He backed up as much as possible in the small space, taking a running start up to the shelf closest to the vent. Scaling it nimbly, Peter found himself hanging from the grate itself, the shelf just slightly too short for him to stand on.

“Damn, if only I was a few inches taller,” he muttered under his breath. The closet was so tall Chloé couldn’t properly see him in the dark room, and Peter took advantage of that, sticking himself to the wall using his spidery powers.

“Okay Karen, gimme some heat,” he whispered, pressing his palm flat against the first screw. Spiderman’s gloved hand covered his own, the palm heating up and melting the screw. Peter quickly repeated the process with the other three, sliding the grate off and dropping it on top to the shelf.

“We’re good to go, Chloé! Come on up!”

“How?” She snipped from down below. “I can’t get up there!”

Peter sighed, rolling his eyes, and commanded his limbs to unstick from the wall, his Spiderman hand retracting back into his necklace as he backflipped off the wall. He landed nimbly beside Chloé, barely making a sound on impact, and gestured for him to climb onto his back.

Once she was secured, Peter repeated his previous climb to the vent, and dangled off the ledge. “Okay, now climb up my shoulders and into the vent.”

“What if I fall?”

“Then I’ll catch you, duh.” Peter gritted his teeth as Chloé began a rather intrusive climb from his back up to his shoulders, nearly snapping his neck as she clambered into the vent. Peter pulled himself in after her.

“We’re in the vents, Césaire,” Chloé said into her communicator. For once, her voice held no malicious undertones. Maybe she was actually having fun, Peter mused.

“Okay, Alya, can you describe how to get from the janitor’s closet on the first floor to the principal’s office?” Peter whispered. “The map should be under my files.”

He could hear her clicking, then Alya spoke. “Okay, go forwards and turn left at the first juncture.”

“Chloé,” Peter prodded her in the back. “Go.”

“Don’t poke me,” Chloé grumbled but started moving forwards. It was slow going with her, but finally they made their way overtop M. Damocles’s office.

“That’s it, right below you,” Alya said.

“Perfect,” Peter said, carefully unscrewing the grate with a shard of metal he’d found along the way. Ever so carefully, he let the grate drop slightly, the screws falling to the desk below, and Peter pulled the grate back up through the hole, placing it beside him.

“How are we going to get down?” Chloé asked, looking at the desk directly below them. “If we just jump, we’ll break the desk.”

“Climb back on.” As soon as she had returned to her previous spot on his back, Peter lowered himself out the vent, one hand holding Chloé on his back, the other holding onto the vent’s small ledge. “We’re gonna swing. Hold on tight, Chlo.”

“Are you insa- AHHH!” Chloé all but screamed as Peter, who’d been slightly swinging to gather momentum as she was speaking, launched himself through the air, gracefully flipping before landing right in front of the desk.

“What part of a secret heist do you not understand? We have to be _quiet_ ,” Peter hissed, setting her down so she could sit on the front of M. Damocles’s desk.

“Are you training for the Olympics or something?” Chloé shot back.

“I can see you guys now!” Alya’s voice spoke in Peter’s ear. “You might want to find that crown fast.”

“Yeah,” Peter muttered. _If I were a principal who thought my office was a fortress, where would I hide the crown?_

“Someone’s coming,” Alya yelped. “Act natural!”

“Quick, Chloé!” Peter spun around to Chloé, who grabbed his face and brought it to hers without a second thought, and apparently just in time, as the door opened almost immediately after.

“We heard someone scream!” Rose Lavillant’s perpetually cheerful tone said from the doorway as she opened the door. Then she saw what was apparently happening, the rest of whatever she was going to say dying in her throat.

Peter’s brain still hadn’t caught up as Chloé’s lips moved against his. His eyes were still wide open, staring down at her as she unapologetically kissed him.

“No! Juleka! They’re not…,” Peter heard Rose stutter behind him, then the door shut once again, leaving him and Chloé alone together once again. It was another few very long seconds before Chloé released him.

“Um,” Peter said, mouth still hanging open stupidly. “What was that?”

“Alya said to act natural.” Chloé winked at him.

Alya sputtered over the communicator, obviously at a loss for words.

“How about that crown, huh?” Chloé tossed her ponytail over her shoulder.

“Uh, yeah!” Peter shook his head to clear the previous moment’s events from his brain. His first kiss was apparently now Chloé Bourgeois. Great. “This bookshelf is a fake.” He tapped a bookshelf, clearing his throat.

“Okay? And?”

“I’m gonna lift it. There’s probably a safe beyond it.” He gripped the bottom of the bookshelf, lifting it up and moving it away from the wall. It didn’t _feel_ like a fake bookshelf. They were usually lighter.

“You idiot, it was a sliding shelf,” Chloé pointed out. Peter had lifted the bookshelf right off its tracks. “Kinda impressive though.”

Just as Peter had suspected, there was a safe sitting there, just waiting for him to crack it open. He popped his knuckles, kneeling down so he was eye-level with the safe.

“Okay sunshine, let’s get this crown.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Peter and Chloé aren’t actually a ~thing~ I’m just here for drama constantly. Plus, I love the concept of her having a redemption arc and maybe Peter can help her achieve that? 
> 
> This next chapter coming up is about to be s p i c y if everything goes to plan, so I’ll see you all next week with!!!! The mini-reveal!!!! I promise (And if I somehow don’t fit it in, you have my permission to cyber bully me)


	12. L’épée de Damocles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter being a smart-ass (aka the author flexing their own knowledge), Suluu’s point of view, The Promised Reveal (I honestly surprised myself I had almost no faith that I’d actually write it in this chapter), Adrien and Peter being bros, plus a ~very~ spicy ending if I do say so myself. So enjoy, y’all, because things next chapter are going to get c o m p l i c a t e d.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me, proper updating on a Sunday (please ignore the fact that it’s literally super late that is irrelevant to this victory) AND actually keeping my promise to include a reveal oml I’m on a roll today, huh? 
> 
> That being said, I’ve made an About the Author little write-up on my Pinterest this week: https://pin.it/4mx7ZMD   
> So if you want to see an anime rendition of myself and learn some fun little facts, feel free to check it out! I had literally no idea what details people would want to know about me (or if you even want to know about me at all) so I mainly just included literally whatever came to mind. Also I added a comic I drew shortly before I wrote Chapter 8 as part of my character developing exercises. It’s not the best of artworks but it was meant to be part of a Beliefs and Morals activity and I decided why not post it? Anyways, those are there if you feel like taking a look!

It was a combination safe. Peter couldn’t believe his luck. He’d expected at _least_ a pin code. Nope, just a straight-up combination safe.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, reaching for the little knob.

“What, you don’t know how to crack it?” Chloé replied, inspecting her nails with an air of general disinterest.

“No, this is literally too easy. Just shut up for a sec.” For a normal person, it might’ve been difficult to hear the sound of the locking mechanism as Peter turned the dial. But for him, he could hear it clear as day, the metal bar on the inside making a loud clunking noise as it found the notch of the first digit.

It took him only a few short seconds before he was opening the safe and pulling out the crown. If it was that easy for him to break into what the school thought was ‘top security’ then he wasn’t feeling too confident about them having all his personal information on file.

“Okay, Chloé, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just make sure no one comes in here. Got it?”

Chloé nodded. Peter decided to trust her abilities and leapt off Mr. Damocles’s desk, jumping back into the air vent they’d come in through. As he made his way back towards the boiler room, he heard Chloé screaming something about her hair. He bit back a grin. Say what you like about her, but the girl was good for orchestrating his mastermind plans.

Reaching the boiler room was not difficult, especially now that he could use his full spider abilities given his lack of audience. Peter easily dropped down into the janitor’s closet, placing the crown on his own head.

“Very stylish,” Suluu commented. Peter was surprised she’d stayed quiet thus long.

“Yeah, well, it’s a trophy, it’s not really meant to look good.” He dug into his pockets, pulling out a small 3D printer, the kind Tony Stark regularly used to make his suits. It was perfect for printing crowns, too, Peter figured.

“Okay Karen,” he whispered. “Gimme my mask.” Karen complied instantly, Spiderman’s mask covering his face and allowing him to connect into the printer. “Scan crown and upload design onto printer four eighty-six.” He held up the real crown, slowly turning it as his computer interface turned it into a printable file. A quick box opened up across his vision, allowing him to adjust the design, and Peter made a few tweaks before giving the all-clear to start printing.

“What are you doing now?” He could hear Suluu’s voice, but couldn’t see her. Yet, it sounded like she was right in front of him.

“Where’d you go?” Peter looked around the small supply closet for his glowing kwami, but she was nowhere to be found.

“You can’t see me with your suit on,” Suluu said. “Kwamis can’t be seen by computers.”

“That’s literally so inconvenient,” Peter sighed, removing his masking. “And here I thought I had _all_ the advantages by being both Spiderman and Helios.”

“The only advantage you have is more power,” Suluu said as she seemingly reappeared from thin air.

“And who wants that, am I right?” Peter deadpanned, inspecting his 3D printed crown. It was nearly done, a few more minutes and he would be good to go.

“Peter?” His communicator carried Alya’s voice into his ear.

“What’s up?” Peter replied, shushing Suluu before she could say anything.

“You need to hurry up. I’m pretty sure Marinette, Adrien, and Nino figured out the crown is supposed to be in the principal’s office. Chloé won’t be able to hold them off. Did you know there were clues we were supposed to find that told you where the crown was and what the combination was? Because apparently everyone except up got that memo.”

“That’s stupid.” Peter turned off his printer, sliding it back into his pocket. “We figured it out just fine. Okay, Chloé, can you get back into the air vents and back to the janitor’s closet?”

“Duh!” Chloé’s voice was a lot louder than he’d been expecting. She was already at the mouth of the vent above him in the janitor’s closet. “Catch me!”

Peter caught her with one hand, placing her on the ground carefully and handing her the real crown. “Wait here until I give the green light.” With that, he slipped out of the closet and into the hall. No one was there, luckily, and he managed to make it to the nearest window and climb outside before Marinette and Adrien rounded a corner, talking amongst themselves.

He had approximately two minutes to get the fake crown in place before Adrien and Marinette reached the office. Nino was nowhere in sight, and Peter assumed he was most likely serving as a distraction somewhere.

Climbing along the outside of the building, Peter made his way up to the office window.

“Peter, what on earth are you doing?” Alya’s voice was concerned in his ear. He’d made sure she didn’t have access to the cameras on the outside of the building, so chances were she’d just seen him slip out the window and appear outside Mr. Damocles’s.

“I’m good at climbing.” Peter engaged his web shooters, shooting a simple web up to the school’s roof so he could hang upside down by his feet and use his hands to slide open the window, carefully touching down inside the office.

He made quick work of it, placing the fake crown in the safe and replacing the bookshelf before he heard Adrien and Marinette’s voices outside the door. There was nowhere to hide, so Peter took a running start; leaping out the window headfirst and shooting another web out, flipping so he stood on the roof. Alya was screaming in his ear.

“Okay, Chloé, take the crown out to the courtyard and just throw it up as high as you can, I’ll catch it.”

“What? Okay, your funeral.” Within a few minutes Peter could see her blond head in the courtyard, then a flash of gold as the crown went airborne. He had to hand it to her, she had a good throwing arm.

Peter ran, leaping off the roof and clearing the courtyard, nabbing the crown as he landed on the other side of the roof.

“How did you do that?” Chloé asked and he could see her peering up at him curiously.

“I told you, I’m athletic. I’ll meet you guys in the library. Heist is up in ten minutes.”

“Are we making dramatic entrances?” Alya asked.

“Hell yeah, we’re making dramatic entrances. Did you bring the fog machine?”

“What do I look like, a basic bitch?” Alya sounded like she was climbing stairs. “See you all there. Good work.”

Peter grinned, silhouetted against the night sky. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Adrien’s face when he realized Peter had beaten him.

“Why are you like this?” Suluu asked, zipping in front of Peter as he made his way along the roof in the direction of the library.

“Why am I amazing, awesome, talented, super smart…,” Peter checked off on his fingers. “Gosh, I don’t know, Suluu. I mean, for starters, _thank you._ Secondly, with lots of practice, one day you too can be just as great as me.”

“It’s a plastic crown.”

“Small victories, Su. Small victories. Today it’s a crown, tomorrow, it could be the Papillon.”

“I highly doubt it.”

“I highly doubt you, so there.” Peter stuck his tongue out at his kwami, crawling down the side of the building and carefully entering through a window just outside the library.

“I’m glad you’re better at being a hero than you are at comebacks.” Peter elected to ignore Suluu’s snide comment, slipping into the library and hiding on the second floor, prepared to make his grand entrance.

“Heist is officially over in three,” Peter counted down over the communicator. “Two, one!” At his mark, an air horn blew somewhere within the school, signalling the end of the heist. The team with the crown was the winner.

“We’ll let them have their moment,” Chloé said. Peter couldn’t see her, but he could tell she was smiling. “Then we’ll come out with the _real_ crown and absolutely crush them.”

“I like the way you think, sunshine,” Peter said under his breath as the remainder of their classmates filed back into the library. Adrien and Nino were carrying Marinette on their shoulders and she was wearing the ‘crown’.

Everything had gone entirely according to plan.

The winning trio started explaining their master plan, and Peter rolled his eyes. It had taken them _so long_ to find out where the crown was hidden, but apparently the clues they’d been following were difficult to decipher. Not that Peter would know; they hadn’t so much as seen any of the clues.

“Well, I guess our winners are-” Mme. Bustier started, but she didn’t get far before Chloé’s voice called out and the fog machine kicked in.

“Not so fast!”

That was Peter’s cue. He saw Alya and Chloé making their way through the fog towards their classmates and he flipped through the air, landing in between them, holding the crown in his hands.

“I believe this is the real crown,” he said casually, spinning it around one finger.

“What?” Marinette and Adrien looked bewildered.

“Check what yours says,” Peter grinned.

“Kiss my ass,” Adrien read out. “Classy.”

“So we are the true winners here,” Chloé said.

“How’d you get another crown?” Mme. Bustier frowned. “This one was specially crafted by our own art department.”

“I’ve got Stark 3D printing tech,” Peter explained. “And Alya here monitored all the security cameras while Chloé and I climbed through the air vents and into M. Damocles’s office, where we then cracked the safe and got the real crown, made a fake, and replaced it. Boom, you can’t beat CAP.”

“Cap?” Alya glanced at him.

“Chloé, Alya, Peter. It’s our team name, I just made it up.”

“That team name sucks,” Chloé sniffed.

“So you guys didn’t even answer the clues and instead broke multiple laws for the sake of the heist?” Mme. Bustier looked at them, impressed and reprimanding at the same time.

“Technically, I have legal access to all the security stuff,” Peter waved a hand in a non-committal gesture. “But no, we did not know there were clues.”

“Well then, you ought to answer them before you can call yourself the winners,” Adrien declared, having set Marinette back down on the ground, folding his arms across his chest.

“Fine, let’s have them.” Peter held out his hand as Adrien extracted a few pieces of paper out of his pocket.

“Start with this one,” Adrien said, handing him the first clue.

“‘With great power comes the threat of constant peril.’” Peter read it out. “Easy, Damocles. That’s how you knew it was in the principal’s office? I thought it was rather obvious.”

“Wait, what?” Marinette said. “Mr. Damocles said that?”

“Um, no?” Peter glanced at their group, then at Mme. Bustier who nodded for him to continue. “Damocles was a guy in Greek mythology who had a sword suspended by a horsehair above his throne, which is where that concept originated from. What answer did you guys come up with, if not Damocles directly?”

He was rather concerned at this point for his friends’ intelligence. Maybe Alya really had been right; he had overestimated their collective knowledge.

“We just thought it meant that the principal is under a lot of stress,” Nino shrugged. “It took us awhile to figure that one out.”

“Alright, let’s have the next one.” Peter accepted the next slip from Adrien. “‘It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.’ Easy, Christian Nolan’s _Batman Begins_ , where Batman hides the entrance to the bat cave behind a bookcase. So that’s how you knew that the safe was there.”

“I actually got that one,” Adrien puffed his chest out, obviously pleased with himself. “I know my superhero films.”

“Good work Agreste,” Peter said, taking the third and final slip from him. “And this must be the safe’s code, then. I honestly just picked the lock.”

“What? How!” Adrien blinked at him.

“Oh, it was easy. I’ve got a knack for getting into places I’m not supposed to be. Let’s have it then.” He blinked, his mind going blank for a moment.

_Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown._

Peter knew this one. He knew he knew it. Once upon a time, Mr. Stark had said those very words to him, and Peter had found the original quote and read the play it came from so that he might be closer to Tony. And now that knowledge was coming in handy.

“Well, this line was based off the concept of Damocles’s sword, so if you didn’t know it was in his office already, this would tell you. But this specific line is from part two of Henry IV, scene three, act one. Line number varies depending on what copy you’ve got, so I’d assume that the combination would be 02, 03, 01. Not the most sound of passwords, but it does the trick. Am I right?”

He glanced at Mme. Bustier, only to realize that everyone was just staring at him, slack-jawed.

“Peter, how do you remember all that?” Marinette finally broke the silence, her face in just as much awe as the others.

“Anything to win.” He flashed her a grin. “We may not have found the clues, but sounds like we answered them better than the others.”

“Okay, Peter’s group wins,” Mme. Bustier declared. “And you have an impressive amount of knowledge on both history and current pop culture.”

“Making references is quite literally my only personality trait, but thanks! Now I’ll need that.” He gestured to the crown in Adrien’s hands. The blond seemed all too relieved to be rid of it.

Peter turned to Chloé and Alya, bowing and holding out the crowns to them. “My Queens,” he announced.

“Why do I get the ‘kiss my ass’ one?” Chloé snarked, but took it from him nonetheless.

“You know why.”

Mme. Bustier set up a Tim Burton movie to play in the main library area with pizza and drinks, but Peter returned to his alcove to eat all the sugar he’d brought. After such a win, he needed to get his blood sugar levels back up. Alya and Nino elected to watch the movie, but Marinette and Adrien joined Peter.

“Not a fan of _The Nightmare Before Christmas_?” Peter asked Marinette, who accepted a bag of candy from him.

“Not a fan of scary movies in general,” she admitted.

“That is _not_ a scary movie,” Adrien laughed. “It’s a nice story.”

“A ‘nice’ story told by skeletons!” Marinette shot back, wrapping her blanket around her. “I get scared easily.”

“We’re going to have to have a proper movie night sometime,” Peter declared. “Watching classics like _Psycho_ or _Murder on the Orient Express_. Those aren’t horrors so much as thrillers. You’ve got to love them.”

“No, no I don’t!’

Peter ignored her insistence, instead grabbing his nightclothes and going to change. He’d acquired a new t-shirt when he was home in New York, one he couldn’t wait to show Adrien.

“Oh my god,” Adrien gasped when Peter returned, then buried his face in his hands. “Take it away.”

“You can say a lot of things about this shirt, but calling it ugly is not one of them.” Peter struck a pose, showing off his shirt which read ‘I <3 Adrien Agreste’ with a massive picture of Adrien’s supermodel face plastered onto it, giving what Peter assumed was supposed to be Adrien’s best attempt at a smoulder. “Best thing is, I didn’t even make this one! They were just selling it!”

“Let me know where you got it from so I can sue.” Adrien was still refusing to look up.

“Sue? Why would you sue someone for bringing this piece of _art_ into the world?” It took all of Peter’s admittedly well-developed willpower not to break down giggling at the colour in his friend’s face.

“Peter, it’s an awful picture of me.”

“I mean sure, you’re making a stupid expression, but the fact that you’re also super attractive slightly diminishes our ability to laugh about it. Right, Marinette?”

She flinched when Peter addressed her, quickly glancing at Peter’s shirt and then returning her attention to her candy. “Sure.”

“See? No awful pictures of you exist.”

“Hmm,” Adrien hummed. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

“Fine, since you seemed to be less than enthused about my choice in attire, I’ll tell you something stupid that happened to me today.” Peter settled down, a smug grin written across his features as Adrien slowly looked up.

“Really? Because all you seem to have done today is win a heist because you’re _so_ much smarter than all of us.”

“Chloé kissed me.” Peter rocked backwards on his hands, refusing to look at either Marinette or Adrien as their eyes went wide, instead electing to read the titles of the books on the nearest shelf.

“She _kissed_ you?” Marinette said in disbelief.

“ _She_ kissed _you_?” Adrien was equally incredulous.

“All in the name of the heist,” Peter waved a hand through the air, “but it seemed like the sort of thing that would entertain your simple minds.”

“Okay, we get it, you won, you’re better than all of us,” Marinette huffed. “But how on earth did you wind up adding kissing Chloé into that little master plan?”

“Simple. We needed a distraction, Chloé was more than happy to come up with a solution.”

“I was under the impression that you…,” Adrien gestured wildly. “For want of a better word; hated her?”

“I don’t _hate_ anyone. Find her annoyingly insufferable, yes. But she actually joined in today and you were right, Adrien. She can be cool when she wants to.”

“Really?” Marinette peered out of the alcove, looking at where Chloé currently had Sabrina brushing her hair. “I’ve always felt that she’s…kind of demanding.”

“That’s just part of her sunshiney charm.” Peter shrugged. “Demanding can be good, when you change it to assertive.”

“Never thought I’d live to see the day where you decided that Chloé was someone you’d kiss,” Adrien muttered, his eyebrows creeping their way up his forehead as he processed the information.

“I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?” Peter laughed, mainly to himself.

“But you don’t actually…?”

“Like her? No.” Peter was more than pleased to set the record straight. “But you know what they say, you gotta get all your ducks in a row before you can make them waddle.”

“Peter,” Marinette giggled. “No one says that.”

“Well then; I’m coining it.” Peter laid back on his sleeping bag, already tired from the day’s activities. “Trademark Peter Parker Phrase.”

It wasn’t long before the movie wrapped up and people were winding down for the evening. Alya had already texted Peter several times about the Chloé situation, and he reassured her (and probably Nino, since they had been curled up together) that he wasn’t planning on continuing any sort of non-platonic relationship with her. So by the time they returned to their sleeping area, the only topic of conversation was Peter’s sleep shirt.

Before he even knew it, Peter was drifting off to sleep. He was usually the last one asleep at sleepovers, but this time he was the first one out. Maybe it was from all the physical activity and scheming, or maybe it was just because he finally felt safe.

* * *

It took for-freaking-ever for the class to fall asleep. Suluu was nestled beneath Peter’s sleeping bag, occasionally brushing against his arm, but she had bigger and better plans for the evening. Namely, the two kwamis that were also existing in the same space as her. Tikki and Plagg. And if she could guess anything about them, they would be phasing out of the library to hang out soon.

For the first time in her life, Suluu could meet other kwamis. She wouldn’t be alone in the big, scary world of magic. It had been bad enough, all those years, being abused by her masters and watching everyone with a good heart die by her hand, but all that time she’d had no one to talk to. And now there was Peter, someone she’d die to save, if a kwami even could die. Never before had she been treated with such kindness, with such respect. He was introducing her to the good side of life, all the light and joy humanity had to offer.

Love wasn’t the same for kwamis as it was for humans. Kwamis like Tikki and Plagg were soulmates, and their chosen ones were designed to be the same. Two halves of a whole. That didn’t necessarily mean in the romantic sense; Suluu knew plenty of Black Cats and Ladybugs had been friends and nothing more. But the bond formed between the two heroes was unbreakable. In other cases, the more minor kwamis occasionally bonded with their wielders, but it wasn’t the same. But for Suluu, she was a singular power, different from all the others. Her bond with the Phoenix holder was the same as Tikki and Plagg’s with each other. Not in the romantic sense, of course, but Peter was her other half. Both of them were incapable of reaching their full potential without one another. Suluu barely existed without him. But now that they were one, they were inseparable. She learned from him, he learned from her. Inside, they were one and the same. Beings who’d lived a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare and chosen not to let it break them; to be kind and beyond judgement.

Never had Suluu, as a god, claimed to know everything. She knew a lot, yes, but never everything. And now she had Peter to fill in the gaps. As she slipped out of his sleeping bag, looking down at his sleeping form, her tiny heart softened. She was every bit his chosen one as he was hers. His choice of name, Helios, couldn’t have been more fitting. The Ancient Greek god of the sun, oaths, and sight had never been properly worshipped, and had always been considered as more of a minor god despite his obvious power. She wondered if Peter knew that, or if he just picked the name for purely aesthetic purposes. Either way, it suited him, more so than the Spiderman. That name gave no testament to his ability.

She found Tikki and Plagg in an empty classroom above the library. The pair was settled on a desk, talking about who knows what, but Suluu decided she’d waited long enough to introduce herself. She wasn’t about to wait longer.

“Heyyyy!” She flew towards them and Tikki and Plagg flew backwards, startled.

“Who are you?” Plagg said, while Tikki seemed to be more in the loop.

“You’re the phoenix kwami, aren’t you?”

“My name’s Suluu.” She was suddenly nervous. She hadn’t thought this through enough. Obviously Tikki and Plagg were close, and had been since the beginning of time. What if Suluu was completely intruding?

“No way!” Plagg zoomed towards her. “You’re the one that burned down Rome! Huge fan.”

“Technically that wasn’t me…,” Suluu let her voice trail off, not really wanting to get into the history of her evil owners. Nero had been one of the worst; a past she tried hard to live beyond. “But hey, you killed the fucking dinosaurs, right, so who’s counting!”

Both Tikki and Plagg stared at her, blinking slowly.

“Right,” Suluu plowed onwards. “Pe-” her voice stopped working before she could finish saying her wielders name. That was another thing she’d never had to worry about. There’d never been anyone to talk to except her wielder. She cleared her throat and tried again. “My chosen keeps telling me not to say fuck.”

“He’s right,” Tikki said.

“I wanna say fuck!” Plagg said at the exact same time.

“Plagg!” Tikki wheeled on him. “We are not having a repeat of when you used to call everyone and everything a ‘canker’!”

“That was my peak, Sucette.” Plagg winked at Suluu. “So you’re the kwami behind Helios, huh? What’s he like? Tikki already knows, since her chosen is ‘responsible’ and ‘smart’ and ‘thinks things through’.”

“Chat Noir thinks sometimes!” Suluu defended Adrien. Granted, she hadn’t seen him that much, but him and Peter were great pals so she had to assume he had his merits. Both Plagg and Tikki laughed.

“He thinks less with his head and more with his…,” Plagg trailed off, tilting his head slightly. “Did you hear that?”

Tikki looked confused, but Suluu nodded. She’d heard it too. Something she hadn’t heard in a very long time, let alone in such early hours of the morning.

“We need to go wake them up!” She phased back into the library, zooming straight through the sleeping Peter’s chest. It was surely an uncomfortable situation for him, almost like heartburn, but it did the trick. Peter bolted upright.

“What’s going on?”

“Can you hear it?” Suluu asked. Peter nodded, blinking away any traces of sleep.

“Gunshots.” His expression darkened. “Are you good to go if we need to suit up?”

“Always!” She chirped enthusiastically.

“Be on standby then. I gotta find out what we’re dealing with.”

Peter seemed like he was about to suit up as Spiderman, but at that moment Adrien awoke.

“Peter?” He asked drowsily as Suluu quickly hid. “What’s going on?”

“Someone’s opened fire on the city,” Peter explained quickly. “I need to go.”

“I’m coming with you!” Adrien insisted, sitting upright.

“No, you need to _stay here_.” Peter’s voice was sterner than Suluu had ever heard it. “I mean that. Don’t get yourself hurt, Adrien. You stay here.” He ran out into the street, still in his Adrien shirt, with Suluu floating along inside his pants pocket, peering out the top. People were screaming, despite the early hour, but Suluu had yet to lay eyes on the source of the commotion.

“What are you going to do, Peter?” She asked as he ran along, his bare feet slapping on the pavement.

“I honestly don’t know,” he said honestly. “I’ll figure it out somehow.” He pulled a stash of cinnamon candies from his other pocket. “If we need multiple transformations, I’ve got these.”

Suluu had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach (if she had one). So far, she’d watched Peter fight akumas and the likes, but someone with a gun was something entirely different. There was a looming possibility of death there.

And Peter wasn’t invincible. A mistake today could cost him his life.

* * *

Adrien didn’t listen to Peter in the slightest. He had grabbed Plagg and was barreling down the street before he’d even thought things through. His mind was still clouded with sleep, but his body was wide awake and charged with shaky adrenaline. What he needed was somewhere to transform, but with everyone charging through the streets, away from the source of the noise, it was rather difficult.

And still Adrien kept getting closer. He wasn’t even sure of what he was looking for until he found it.

The man was obviously akumatized, floating in the air, holding an automatic rifle with multiple bandoliers strapped across his chest. But those were bullets, very real, metal bullets, that he was shooting out with reckless abandon at the people below. So far it didn’t look like anyone had been actually hit, but it was only a matter of time. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

“Adrien!” Peter came running out of a nearby alley, eyes wide. “I told you to stay inside!”

“Then why are _you_ here?” Adrien asked as the gunman fired again. Time seemed to slow; Peter’s eyes got impossibly wider as Adrien realized two things. 1) their road was deserted now, it was just the two of them and the akuma and 2) he was in the direct line of the latest bullet to be fired.

Then Peter was running in front of him, so fast Adrien almost missed it, and Adrien tried to push Peter out of the way. But it was too late. The bullet was there.

And then a blue holographic shield exploded out in front of the two of them, deflecting the bullet with ease. The gunman took off, landing on the ground and running away, belts of bullets clanking.

“How the hell-” Adrien started, but his words died in his throat as Peter turned around, Spiderman’s famous mask swallowing his face. And now instead of his best friend, his hero stood there, suited up and ready to go.

“Suit up, Chat.” Peter’s tone was unhappy to say the least as Adrien quickly transformed, mind racing. Peter was Spiderman. Peter had been Spiderman all along. Spiderman knew his identity. Peter knew his identity. And this wasn’t the time to be thinking about all that.

“What are we going to do?” Adrien’s voice cracked slightly as the two heroes took off down the road.

“We need to catch up to him, for starters,” Spiderman said, leaping through the air and landing in a sports car. Adrien landed next to him, looking at his friend with a curious glance.

“Karen, I need backdoor access to remote start.” Spiderman pressed his palm against the wheel and it lit up with a blue light as his suit hacked into the car, starting its engine.

“Do you know how to drive?” Adrien asked. He knew the answer. He didn’t want to hear it.

“No.”

And with that, Spiderman pushed the pedal to the metal (actually, to the plush leather interior) and they shot off like a rocket, haphazardly steering through the streets.

“Have you seen Ladybug?” Adrien yelled over the noise of the car reaching max speed, doing everything within his power to stay upright as they took a sharp turn.

“No, and I hope I don’t. You’re risking your life being here, it’s stupid.”

“You can’t expect to take on this guy alone!”

“Adrien, you just about died. If I wasn’t standing there, if I had just been Peter Parker and nothing more, you would have just been shot to death. And I can’t always be there to protect you.”

Adrien said nothing for a moment, until Spiderman shot out some webs, gripping onto the nearest building and using that to help them make the next turn.

“We need Ladybug, though, she needs to purify the akuma!” Adrien reminded him.

“There are other ways of getting rid of it without purifying it.” Spiderman’s voice was strained as he looked left and right. Adrien honestly had no idea how he was still on the road with the rate everything was speeding by at.

“Going somewhere without me?” A familiar voice followed a slight dip in the car as Ladybug landed on the trunk. Spiderman sighed, completely exasperated.

“Both of you should _not_ be here!” He yelled, slamming a hand on the horn.

“You drive like a maniac!” Ladybug said.

“Because I don’t know how! Because someone here decided to try and get himself shot! Because I don’t want either of you to get hurt!” Spidey’s voice choked up. “So go.”

“I’m not letting you take this on alone,” Adrien said. “So get over it.”

“I can’t lose you too.” Spiderman shot a web square in the centre of both Ladybug and Adrien’s chests. Adrien didn’t realize what he was doing until he shot the rest of the web out to a nearby building, lifting both him and Ladybug right out of the car, leaving them to fly through the air.

Good thing Ladybug was paying attention, as she managed to whip out her yoyo and swing both her and Chat away before they could become hero pancakes against the building’s wall. Adrien’s mind, however was far away. Spiderman was already far out of sight, off somewhere to chase down that gunman. And here was Adrien, doing nothing to help.

“We’ve got to go after him,” he said as soon as Ladybug set them both down.

“You heard him, Chat!” Ladybug grabbed his belt tail, stopping him in his tracks. “We can’t go after him.”

“You don’t understand!” Adrien ripped his tail out of her grasp, ignoring the flash of hurt that flickered in her expression. And he didn’t either. But he was beginning to.

Peter Parker was Spiderman, and he’d lost almost everyone that mattered to him. Being Spiderman was putting his loved ones at risk. Being Spiderman meant that not every day was guaranteed. But Spiderman was the bravest person Adrien had ever met, and Peter was the strongest. And Adrien wasn’t about to let Spiderman take on anyone by himself.

“‘Nothing you go through needs to be dealt with alone’,” Adrien said slowly.

“What?” Ladybug looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Spiderman said, that one time when you were afraid, he said that we had each other to fall back on, because nothing we go through needs to be dealt with alone. Which is why I need to go help him. You and Spiderman mean the world to me, and I can’t lose either of you.”

“Chat…” Her expression said a million different things, none of them good. 

“I’m not asking you to come.” Adrien’s tone hardened with determination. “I’m not even asking what you think. I’m going.” And that was all he had to say before he took off running.

It didn’t take too long to find Spiderman. He simply followed the sound of gunshots. Spiderman was flipping through the air, firing webs this way and that as he took after the gunman. The car had long sense been abandoned, and Adrien gathered that the plume of smoke rising into the air was from a crash of sorts. Either way, it was unimportant to him now.

Spidey’s suit with its shields seemed to be hindering his ability to properly shoot his webs. And being the main target, Spiderman was under continuous fire. Eventually the hero had no choice but to pursue his target on foot.

Chat landed beside him gracefully, baton deflecting a bullet. Spiderman barely even looked his way.

“I told you to stay back.”

“Yeah, and I told you we’re a team. You’re not going anywhere without me, Spiderman.”

“You’re an idiot.” It seemed as though Spidey had resigned to Chat’s presence, however, as he didn’t push it further, instead continuing his firing of webs. “If I can just get the gun, that’ll stop him from being able to kill us.”

“Yeah, but how. Neither of us can fly, and those shields may be stopping the bullets, but it’s not letting us get close.”

“I’m going to get Helios,” Spidey said. “I know him. But I need you to duck into an alley or something until he gets here. He doesn’t have shields.”

“No, but he has that giant fire bird,” Adrien pointed out.

“That’s literally only one of his powers. I’m telling you Chat, stay here. And I know you didn’t listen last time, but this time I’m saying please trust me.”

“Fine.” Adrien begrudgingly agreed, ducking behind a car as Spiderman flipped away. His heart was pounding in his ears and he was terrified and confused, but he trusted Spiderman implicitly. 

“I can see you, little kitty….” A sing-song-y voice reached Adrien’s ears a few moments after Spiderman had disappeared, and it didn’t sound like Helios.

He carefully peeked through the back window of the car and flinched when he saw just how close the shooter had gotten. He was only a few metres away and he was staring right at Chat.

“These bullets are _special_. They can go right through your little suit. How easy do you think it’ll be for me to take your miraculous once you’re dead?”

Adrien gulped, feeling infinitely less confident than he had before .

“Nice try, bitch.” A voice called out as Helios landed right in the middle of the road, cobblestone cracking under his feet. Adrien had never been so glad to see the fiery hero. Granted, he’d only seen him once before but that fact didn’t make him any less grateful.

“What did you just call me?” The gunman turned his attention away from Chat Noir and focused it on the hero who dared interrupt his little shooting spree.

“I called you a little bitch.” Helios gripped his golden rope, slowly spinning it beside him as the akuma glowered at him.

“I could shoot you down right now.”

“Yet you haven’t yet. Like I said, little bitch. And the second you started threatening my friend, you earned yourself a one way ticket to hell, pal.” The way Helios’s eyes flashed, it was like there was an inferno burning inside him and his glare was the only way to catch a glimpse.

It seemed the gunman had heard enough and he opened fire at Helios, who didn’t seem the least concerned. In fact, as Adrien watched, the hero dodged all of the bullets easily, moving so fast his eyes could barely pick up on it.

“Bro, you’re _such_ a bad shot. Did no one ever teach you how to shoot? Or did Monsieur Papillon just send you out here with no training?”

“You’re a fast one, little fire boy.” The shooter cocked his gun, aiming at something just over Helios’s shoulder. “But I bet _she_ isn’t.”

Adrien followed his gaze, letting out a long sigh when his eyes landed on Chloé’s recognizable blond hair. Why why _why_ was she there?

“I thought your job was to get our miraculous.” Helios tried his best to bring the gunman’s attention back to him, but his rope ceased spinning. Instead, it pointed at Chloé behind Helios’s back. Adrien squinted at it, hard, and the rope pointed at him, then Chloé. Oh. Helios clearly expected Chat to rescue Chloé while he kept the gunman occupied. Great.

“Not yours,” the akuma scoffed. “We have no use for yours.”

“Okay, one, that’s hurtful,” Adrien could hear Helios saying as he made his way back to Chloé, pulling her into an alley.

“What are you doing?” Chloé smacked his hands off her.

“Saving your life,” he muttered. “Don’t move.” Adrien rolled out of the alley, carefully looking to make sure he wasn’t about to be shot. The gunman was still focused on Helios, brow furrowing as the hero danced around him, dodging his bullets.

Adrien glanced up on instinct alone, surprised to see that his partner had made it after all. Ladybug was silhouetted against the sky atop a nearby building, watching the scene unfold before her. It reminded him of one of the first times they’d fought together, where she’d stood on top of the stage, hesitating to join him.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice the akuma was no longer preoccupied until a bullet hit the building behind him. Flinching, Adrien twirled his baton, entirely uncertain of what to do. Apparently Helios was prepared to use his secret weapon, though, and at that very moment, he let out a yell that quickly transformed into a shockwave of pure sound, sending the gunman and nearby cars blasting backwards.

The sound was mesmerizing and horrifying at the same time. When Adrien had heard the phoenix song for the first time, it had been sorrowful and hauntingly beautiful, captivating everyone around it and causing time to slow. This song was forceful, leaving him feeling like he’d been punched in the chest and sending things flying. Perhaps it mirrored how Helios was feeling. The first time had been a lament, this time it was pure anger, white hot and burning.

Last time Helios had created a fire bird. This time, a fiery aura surrounded him as he charged at the gunman, eyes blazing with the force of a thousand suns. Even his hair this time was made of pure fire, mingling with the ring around his body.

With a roar, the gunman loaded his bandolier into the gun, holding down the trigger as Helios ran at him, unconcerned. Each bullet vaporized in the fiery aura before it could so much as nick the hero, and Helios slammed his fist into the offender’s chest, sending him flying backwards, but not for long.

Helios followed him, running up the side of a building like gravity didn’t apply to him and doing a horizontal spin through the air, his rope lashing out and wrapping around the akuma, slamming him back to earth, hard. Adrien ran forwards, watching Ladybug leap from the building out of the corner of his eye, joining Helios in the middle of the street.

“It burns,” the shooter croaked as Adrien approached, readying his cataclysm. “It burns so bad.”

“Yeah, it seems to do that to bad people,” Helios said offhandedly, tightening his grip slightly as Adrien reduced the gun to a pile of ashes. Apparently that hadn’t been where the akuma was hiding, as the man stayed exactly as he was.

“Where’s the akuma?” Ladybug asked the man, peering at him. Neither Ladybug nor Chat could get close to Helios, as his aura was extremely hot. The sweat sliding down the gunman’s brow was evaporating almost instantly as it came close to the hand Helios held close to his neck.

“I don’t know!” The man wailed.

“The butterfly, where did it touch you?” Adrien pressed, but all the shooter did was shake his head.

“Lucky charm!” Ladybug tossed her yoyo into the air, evidently out of options, catching the blacklight it dropped. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“Shine it on him,” Helios said. “I’d do it myself, but it would destroy the lucky charm.” Adrien could tell from the strain in his voice that the suit was taking its toll, but his grip on the rope held steadfast.

Ladybug shone the blacklight over the man, pausing when it picked up on a spill on the man’s pants. “What’s that?”

“Spill something on yourself? Did it embarrass you?” Helios asked, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “No matter, let me get that for you.” He hovered his palm above the liquid, drying it. As it dried with a hiss, a butterfly flew out, almost immediately combusting due to Helios’s proximity.

“Sorry Ladybug,” he said, releasing the man as the akumatization lifted. “I meant to let you purify it.”

“It’s fine.” She waved a hand. “As long as it’s gone.”

The man looked up at Helios with horror as he rescinded his rope. “Where’s Spiderman?”

“What do you mean, where’s Spiderman?” Helios thumbed his rope, but didn’t return it to its usual spot across his back. “Don’t you usually forget what’s happened by this point? What do you want from him?”

“I was sent here to kill him.” The man said simply. “And now that I’ve failed, because he left, they’ll kill me too.”

Helios glanced at his ankle, then back at the man. “Why did they want to kill Spiderman?”

“I don’t know! They’re always just a voice on the phone, aren’t they? They tell you where to go and what to do!”

“Tell me what they said,” Helios flicked his rope back around him and drew him close to his fiery aura, “exactly.”

“Helios! Your transformation!” Ladybug pointed out. Helios shook the man, ignoring her.

“The voice said to kill Spiderman! Nothing else, just a large figure! I don’t know what to tell you, man! I’m going to get killed when I go back, though!”

“Then I suggest you figure something else out.” Helios whipped his rope back. “Change your identity or something.”

And without a single look at either Adrien or Ladybug, he ran away, taking the heat but leaving the lingering smell of fire.

Spiderman reappeared moments later, mask’s expression unreadable. He knelt beside the man. “I’ve called SHIELD. They’re coming to pick you up and booking you for attempted assassination and acts of terrorism.”

“Spiderman!” The man said. He was shivering, most likely due to the burns Helios’s aura and rope had afflicted.

“Don’t. You could’ve killed someone today.” Spiderman stood up, readying his web shooters. “Ladybug, do you want to ‘miraculous ladybug’ it up in here?”

Ladybug blinked at him, before nodding slowly and throwing her lucky charm into the air as Spiderman wrapped the man up in a web cocoon. Paris reverted itself back to normal as Spiderman worked to make sure there was no way the man could possibly escape.

“Ladybug, Chat, we should get out of here before they arrive.” Spiderman’s tone conveyed nothing of his true feelings as he stepped back. Although Adrien had a feeling he was about to find out.

Ladybug gave them a quick fist bump before she ran away. Spiderman simply begun to swing back towards the school, the sounds of an approaching helicopter fading into the distance. He dropped down beside the school, his Spidey suit crawling up his limbs and vanishing somewhere under his shirt, that stupid shirt Adrien hated so much. And so he continued to stare at it as his own transformation dropped, afraid to face his friend.

“We should get our stuff and head back,” Peter said, stepping around Adrien and heading inside the school. Adrien followed silently, still unable to look up.

It was a silent walk back to the Agreste mansion. Adrien had a million questions he wanted to ask, all in poor taste, so instead he finally found the opportunity to break the silence when Peter instinctively followed him into his room, settling on Adrien’s sofa.

“How long?” Adrien asked, electing to sit on the floor instead of next to his friend.

“Couple years,” Peter said. It seemed to be his turn to avoid eye contact as he stared at Adrien’s coffee table, almost as though he expected it to get up and do a jig.

“What was it like? At first, I mean.”

“Really confusing. I had no idea what was happening, or how to handle myself. It’s…it’s the reason my uncle died. I could’ve saved him, but I didn’t. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what I was doing.” Adrien watched his eyes fill with tears. It seemed natural that Peter was Spiderman, but somehow he’d missed the thought that Spiderman was human beneath the suit too. Adrien had a problem with putting people on pedestals, and he’d done the same for almost everyone he’d known. His father, Ladybug, Spiderman, and Peter himself. And now that the pedestal was crumbling beneath one half of Adrien’s list, he had no idea what to do.

“He was why I had to be a hero. I couldn’t just have the benefits of being Spiderman without the bad too. I had to _earn_ my place on this earth; justify the space I fill by taking on the responsibility no one wants. It hasn’t been easy, and I’d be lying if I said it was fun juggling the trauma, the pressure, and every other plague that follows me, but it’s worth it, you know? Like today, I was able to save people. But the ones I can’t? Those are the ones that haunt me.”

Adrien chewed the inside of his cheek, barely daring to continue the conversation. But he had a feeling this was something Peter needed to get off his chest, needed to talk about. “So your mentor is Tony Stark, right?”

“Yeah, I guess you could call it that.” Peter shrugged. “He’s like the father I never had. One day he just showed up at my house and told me we were going to Germany. Then I went and fought Captain America and then left. And ever since then, he’s given me everything I could ever dream of. My suits, my tech, support. I don’t get to see him too often, but that’s okay because when I do see him, he teaches me so much. He’s my inspiration, he’s why I wanted to be an Avenger.”

“So that day you got hit by the car, you were fine because you’re Spiderman? And when Spiderman brought me food, that was you? Threatening to beat up my dad and stuff.”

Peter threaded his fingers in between his knees, rocking forward slightly and giving Adrien a small smile. “Yeah, I really fucking hate him, if we’re being honest. I know I said I don’t hate anyone, but he’s an exception. And I can stop a bus or train with my bare hands, so yeah, I can avoid being crushed by a tiny car. I once held the Staten Island Ferry together with nothing but my webs, so that was nothing.”

“You what?” Adrien laughed, glad when his friend did the same. “Wait. You know I’m Chat Noir. You know Ladybug’s identity too. How?”

“One question at a time,” Peter held up his hands in mock surrender as the mood in the room lightened. “When I stepped off the aeroplane, there was little Adrien Agreste, all nice and polite and sweet, and then I suited up that night to become acquainted with the Parisian atmosphere and then I saw you again. Only this time, you were dressed in as a cat boy and quite a bit more flirtatious.”

“You’re not supposed to be able to recognize me.” Adrien frowned.

“I’m just incredibly intuitive.” Peter winked. “And yes, I know Ladybug’s identity, but I will not be telling you.”

“So you know that I’ve been….” Adrien didn’t know what to say next. Dating Ladybug? That didn’t really seem to cut it.

“Snogging Ladybug at any given opportunity like you have no control over your hormones? Yeah, yeah I do know. I walked in on you, remember?”

“Aw man.” Adrien pulled the front of his shirt up over his eyes. “That’s embarrassing.” The embarrassment only lasted a few moments before he remembered something crucial, sitting up straighter in a flash.

Peter raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in demeanour. “Yes?”

“Chloé Bourgeois _kissed_ Spiderman?”

“Yeah, the first and only one to kiss him thus far.” Peter refused to get embarrassed. “She’s real lucky, I know.”

“All this time you’ve been covering for me and making excuses to leave dinner early to do patrols, and I just thought it was awfully convenient.” Adrien shook his head. “But really I was saying goodnight to you, then jumping out the window and saying hello to you again?”

“Yeah, I’ve known every single thing you’ve been up to since the very beginning. You literally can’t keep things from me, Adri. I’m omniscient and all-seeing. Plus I have a computer database more extensive than most governments’ at my reach at any given moment, so.” He shrugged.

“That night everyone got drunk! And you took our miraculous, and you didn’t drink!” Adrien pointed a finger at him accusingly. “You guilt tripped us so hard for that!”

“I literally didn’t do anything! I forgave you both right away! Although I admit, it was funny how you tried to come help when you were completely plastered.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my best friend is actually Spiderman and has known that I’m Chat Noir this whole time.”

“It’s a lot to take in, I know,” Peter said. “No one really accepts it right away. My friend Ned actually asked me if I laid eggs when he first found out.”

“…” Adrien looked at him for a good long moment.

“I don’t!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Of course you don’t lay eggs.” Adrien gave an awkward laugh, wrapping his arms around his knees. “Silly Ned.”

“Hmmm, sure.” Peter regarded him with a look that suggested he knew that Adrien had genuinely thought there was a possibility of Peter laying eggs for a solid few seconds.

“Is there anything you want to ask me? About me being Chat Noir?” Adrien hastened to change the subject, foot tapping on the floor.

“No, not really. You’re kind of an open book.” Peter tilted his head.

“Great. The first person to figure out my identity _ever_ and you already have a way cooler superhero persona who also already knows me inside and out.”

“Actually, can I meet your kwami?” Peter asked.

“Uh, sure?” Definitely not what Adrien had been expecting. He reached into his shirt and extracted a sleeping Plagg in his fist, holding him out for Peter’s approval.

“Is it dead?” Peter peered at the sleeping cat, scooting to the edge of the couch to get a closer look.

“Nope, just lazy,” Adrien said honestly. “He’s not too much of a help. Loves cheese.”

“You mean the cheese fridge…?” Peter blinked at him. “That’s not just a French thing?”

“Yeah…no. I don’t love cheese that much.” Adrien laughed at the expression on Peter’s face.

“I don’t like cheese in the _slightest_ yet I’ve been sucking it up because I thought that would bring me closer to French culture! Only to find out I’ve been lied to.” Peter clasped a hand over his heart as Adrien stuffed Plagg back into his shirt.

“Yeah, well, you told me you worked an internship for Tony Stark and were ground control for Spiderman, but it turns out you _are_ Spiderman!”

“Lies told to protect one’s identity do _not_ count as lies, and that’s a new rule.” Peter snorted.

Adrien laughed with him, until he remembered something he ought to say.

“Listen, I’m sorry for not staying back when you told me to, earlier. I just didn’t want you to get hurt and not have anyone to rescue you. I know you can hold your own and whatnot, but I can’t even count the times I would’ve died if it hadn’t been for Ladybug, and I just want you to have someone who’s got your back too.”

Peter gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry I got mad at you both, it’s just that you two mean a lot to me, and if something happened to you on my watch, I’d never be able to forgive myself. I’ve lost so many people that I never thought I’d be able to lose, and I didn’t want you guys to just be more people I’ve loved and lost. It wasn’t about your ability as a hero or anything of the sort.”

“I get that. I should’ve listened.”

“No, what you should do is trust your instincts. And I did wind up needing you, both to get Chloé to safety and to destroy the gun.”

“I suppose I should apologize to Ladybug too, I got kinda short with her when I insisted on going after you.” Adrien’s heart plunged as he remembered the look on her face. ‘ _I’m not asking what you think.’_ That had been a dick move and he needed to make it right.

“Yeah, you should go for that.” Peter nodded. “I’m just going to rest here, I think.”

“Hey,” Adrien stood up, holding out his hand for a fist bump. Peter complied. “No more secrets, huh?”

“One more secret,” Peter said. “But a secret for another time.”

“I’m intrigued.” Adrien stopped in his tracks, inspecting Peter’s face for any sort of hint as to what the secret was. As usual, he couldn’t tell anything beyond his sparkling eyes and childlike smile.

“For another time, Adrien. Go make out with your Lady or whatever it is you two do. Actually, I’m pretty sure that _is_ all you two do.”

“One last question,” Adrien said. “A particular incident comes to mind now that you say that. When Marinette and I were talking about your dead parents, how did you know?”

“I have exceptionally good hearing.” Peter grinned. “Now go apologize to Ladybug, you prat.”

Adrien raised a single finger in Peter’s direction as he roused Plagg and suited up, leaping out the window, off to find his Lady. He was glad that Peter wasn’t mad at him, even though he didn’t seem the sort to get mad and stay mad. There was no doubt about it, Peter was his best friend. And as Adrien zipped off into the afternoon, the thought of a singular memory, in which Spiderman brought him a birthday cake, made him smile. Peter cared, and he always had. Now that Spiderman and Peter were one and the same, Adrien could see just how much he genuinely cared; how far out of his way he would go to make Adrien happy.

The fact that Peter could’ve been friends with anybody and had chosen him made Adrien the luckiest cat in the whole wide world.

* * *

As soon as Adrien was gone, Peter took a nice long shower back in his own room. Suluu sat on the bathroom counter, positively raving about how grand it was to suit up.

“You totally kicked his ass, Peter!”

“ _We_ kicked his ass,” Peter corrected, wrapping a towel around his waist as he stepped out. “You do all the heavy lifting.”

“Technically speaking, we both do. And isn’t it such a relief now that Adrien knows you’re Spiderman?”

“Sure.” Peter mussed his hair. Really, he didn’t think it would make too much of a difference. Of course, now him and Adrien could talk about all aspects of their life openly (minus the bit where he was Helios), but that didn’t seem too different to Peter than what they already did. He was Adrien’s best friend as Peter, and Chat Noir’s second-best friend (second to Ladybug, although if she was taking up the position of ‘girlfriend’ perhaps that was his chance to rise in the ranks) as Spiderman.

“Hey Su, how come my rope burns people?”

“Oh, that’s just if they’ve got bad intentions,” Suluu said thoughtfully. “Like if they’re trying to kill you or if they’re acting out of spite, whatever. It’s more of a judge of character. Just a cool little feature it has built in.”

“Great. Good to know.” Peter sighed, generally uncertain what to make of the fact that his magic rope had taken up the role of the feather of Maat, tugging sweatpants and a sweater on. Adrien the Fashion Police Sergeant wasn’t around to critique his fashion choices, and Peter had yet to run into Fashion Police Captain Gabriel Agreste that week, so he figured he was in the clear to dress as ugly as he liked.

“While we’re asking questions,” Suluu braved, “why does someone want you dead?”

“Who knows, who cares.” Peter shrugged. “For some reason people who do a lot of good have a lot of enemies. Apparently that’s just how life works. Maybe I’m the villain in their story, you never know. But I can’t change how people see me. I just do what I think is right and they choose how to narrate it. And if someone wants me dead, that’s their own personal problem, but I won’t let them hurt others on my account.”

He exited the bathroom, Suluu in tow, but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard an odd noise, one you didn’t hear everyday, coming from the study downstairs and across the foyer. A normal human wouldn’t have been able to hear the sounds of a mechanical lift, but Peter had no trouble picking it up now that the house was quiet.

“Did you hear that?” He whispered to Suluu. She nodded.

He peeked his head out the doorway to his bedroom, watching M. Agreste himself leave the study and head off into another wing of the house. This was Peter’s chance to do precisely the thing Adrien had told him not to do. Go sneaking.

“I’m going to suit up so I can use my suit’s scanners,” Peter said, allowing the Spidey suit to cover every inch of him. “But this certainly piques my interest.”

“It piques mine too,” Suluu said, clapping her hands together.

“No, you stay here,” Peter said.

“No, I’m going with you.”

“No, no you’re not, I need a lookout.”

“If you wanted a lookout you should’ve gotten a dog or something. I go with you, bitch.”

“You’ve really got to stop swearing or you’ll seriously offend me one day.” Peter groaned, carefully slipping out of his room in a flash, running the security cameras in the house on a loop via a simple command to Karen. No one would pick up on it until he’d already done his snoop, Peter was sure of it. He resisted the urge to hum the Mission Impossible theme song as he crept into the study.

His eyes were immediately drawn to a large painting of Adrien’s mother, or it at least looked like a painting at first. With his naked eye, Peter could tell it was more than _just_ a painting. Hinges, subtle ones, but nonetheless there, were connected to the left side, and Peter could make out the tell-tale oil deposit spots on the painting’s surface. Someone had been regularly touching a few spots on the front, and as he engaged his scanning mode he could see the safe behind the painting and the wiring of the buttons in front of him.

“Oh Gabe,” Peter whispered to himself as he pressed the buttons without so much of a second thought as to what he was doing. The floor opened up beneath him, but Peter didn’t fall. Instead, the same mechanical whirring he’d heard before begun as a lift took him under the floor of the Agreste house.

Once the lift stopped and Peter got his bearings, he stepped out, taking every detail of the underground lair in.

“Motherfucker,” he said under his breath. Of course, Suluu leaped at the new language he’d just foolishly handed to her, echoing his sentiments.

“Motherfucker!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way Suluu be swearing like a sailor >>>>>>>
> 
> Also I live to be as unconcerned as Peter upon receiving death threats (not that I’ve been receiving any) he just handles stuff so much better than I do. 
> 
> For future chapters, I am thinking (key word being ‘thinking’) about adding some...maybe a little NSFW scenes? If people are down for it, I’ll do it, but I know this story has been more about the plot than the romance up to this point in favour of Peter being the ‘main character’ but if we want to explore a different angle...? Idk, let me know. It’s not gonna turn into an erotica with no plot either way, it would be more like a festive little ~extra~


	13. Le Contenu de son Caractère

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Literally 10k words of Peter angst I have no further explanation also Suluu being semi informative for once

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy everyone look at me posting at a semi-reasonable hour and not at like...midnight lolol. Thank you everyone for your opinions on the last chapter (and for 100 kudos eek!!!!) 
> 
> Also, fair warning, this chapter was written while I was literally dying after getting a flu shot and it’s way sadder and far less cohesive than I intended it to be. It took me literally 5 full edits to make this even readable which is why it wasn’t posted yesterday (also I introduced a random thanksgiving subplot??? I rewatched Félix and decided it was essential that I write about him more so expect to see him show up in the next few chapters fjdslfjl) but here it is!!

Contrary to popular belief, Paris was not the bright, sunny, bustling tourist hub it was during the summer all year round. Adrien had met plenty of people over the years through the modelling business who had expressed their disbelief that Paris, like many places, was further reduced to a grey and dreary cityscape the closer it got to winter. Yet Chat Noir in his current state was testament to the fact that it was, indeed, plenty rainy in late autumn as he sat upon his usual rooftop, hair plastered to his head as he waited for someone who most likely wouldn’t be coming.

He’d texted Ladybug to ask her to meet him at their usual spot before he’d transformed, ensuring the phone Spiderman had gifted to him was not on his person, making it easy for him to grab it on his way out the window in case she texted. But with zero messages and a noticeable lack of Ladybugs in the immediate area, Adrien had to face two possibilities. One, Ladybug was busy with her real life or two, she was mad at him. Either way, Adrien didn’t blame her.

He checked his phone one last time, carefully drawing it out of the tiny pockets of his suit and squinting against the heavy rain to read the screen. It was all in vain, however, as it displayed only the time and a tiny ‘no previous messages’ when he swiped up, worried he might’ve missed something. In all honesty, he was surprised that the phone had yet to be waterlogged beyond repair. Even Adrien himself was feeling worn out as the droplets continued to pound down on his head. Stark tech was no joke.

Finally ( _finally_ ) Adrien decided to head home. Shoving his slick phone back into his pocket with a display of sheer difficulty, he readied his baton and shot off into the wind; rain pelting his face as he blindly returned home, relying on sheer instinct to get him to his window. And he missed slightly, slamming into the glass panes as his reflection mocked him. Adrien looked a mess. A cold, wet, sorry mess.

A pair of wild green eyes with a surprisingly hard edge to them stared back at him. He’d never realized how…unthreatening his messy hair was until it was no longer fluffy, slicked back against his skull as water made its way down his jawline, dripping onto his chest. He didn’t have long to critique his appearance, though, as a strong gust of wind knocked him flat against the window and he had to devote his attention to hanging on, eventually managing to pull himself back into his room and detransform, shutting the pane firmly behind him.

The damage to his room had already been done. Leaving a window open during a rainstorm had a tendency to do that, so Adrien really shouldn’t have been surprised to see a large puddle forming on the floor, making a mental note to clean it up before Nathalie could see it and revoke his window-opening privileges.

Peter wasn’t where he’d left him, unsurprisingly, nor was he in his own room. Adrien had no idea where his housemate could’ve gone. Although now that he knew Peter and Spiderman were one and the same, the amount of things he actually knew about Peter had considerably lessened. What was a lie to keep his identity safe, and what was the truth? Adrien admittedly had no idea, so perhaps the red and blue sporting hero had braved the storm and headed out after all.

Just to be sure, Adrien wandered down to the kitchen, looking for any signs of Peter. None; but he hadn’t expected there to be. The one time Peter had used the kitchen, Adrien hadn’t even been conscious to witness it and after Nathalie’s attitude towards his previous endeavours, it seemed doubtful that Peter would’ve chosen today to get back on that cooking career.

He moseyed back on out, greeted by the sight of his father disappearing into his study without sparing Adrien so much as a glance. Needless to say, it was a beautiful day and everything was coming up Adrien.

* * *

Peter wanted to screech for so many reasons all at once. The first being the soft echo of ‘motherfucker!’ that he one hundred percent blamed his kwami for, the second being that this was _clearly_ not just a fun little hidden basement, and the third being that the hundreds of white butterflies that surrounded him looked an awful lot like the purified akumas that were often released from Ladybug’s yoyo.

Except those akumas flew away, always off into the horizon, meaning these butterflies were a different side of the same coin. These butterflies were pure and untouched by dark magic. They were just waiting to be turned evil.

The room was dark and empty except for the softly glowing butterflies and a small table. A large window, covered by some sort of large, mechanical blind was the only other feature of the room. Peter’s internal scanners told him the window overlooked Paris, an odd thought due to the fact that he distinctly remembered the elevator going _down._ He made his way over to the table, every single instinct in his body telling him to run, but that small, tiny, logical part of his brain told him to stay. Actually, it was his frontal lobe, the largest part of his brain, but Peter ignored that fact for the sake of dramatics in his own internal narrative.

The table had a little box sitting on it, flat and unassuming, the same shadowy grey the rest of the room was swathed in from the lack of light. His computer easily looked past the box, scanning the object inside.

“It’s got the same energy signature as your average miraculous, only a fair bit weaker,” Peter whispered to Suluu. “Shaped like…a fan? A hand fan?”

He glanced in the direction he assumed his kwami would be, until she spoke on the other side of his head, forcing him to turn. “That’s the peacock miraculous. The only other one I’ve had contact with.”

“Contact with? What do you mean?”

“A miraculous can’t be destroyed, but it can be severely damaged. And my master at the time thought that the peacock miraculous was a challenge to them, as it was the only other miraculous they’d encountered. Since my magic cannot be unified with other kwamis as every other one can, my master decided to attempt to destroy the peacock, using my incineration power to not only kill the wielder of the miraculous, but also to break its magic object. Every time the user of the peacock miraculous puts it on, the magic is unfiltered, as it usually is by tying a kwami to a physical object, and it starts slowly killing them, until they fall into an unending sleep.”

“Gabriel wouldn’t be using this, would he?” Peter thumbed the box, considering, then decided not to open it. Magic was almost always more trouble than it’s worth.

A heartbeat, then the realization. “Mayura. Nathalie.”

“Yes,” Suluu hummed sadly. “She will die soon, if she dons it again. I can sense it on her, the foreboding of death.”

Peter made a face in the Spidey suit, glad she couldn’t see him. “You’re just a beacon of light in my life, Su, you know that?”

“You can’t sense it yet, but the more we’re together, the better you’ll get at it. There’s a reason phoenixes are a symbol of death. The threshold is a short one.”

“And what if I don’t want to sense death?” Peter challenged, walking back into the elevator. This time there were buttons, and he had no idea what to push. Was he down? Or up? Pressing down, he turned in a slow circle, waiting for Suluu to speak so he knew where to look.

“Like many things in your life, Peter, I think you’ll find you don’t have a choice of the matter.” Suluu’s voice was difficult to place, and Peter had the sneaking suspicion she was flying around his head just to confuse him. “And this is _definitely_ not the study.”

“How many underground lairs does this man _have_?” Peter stepped out of the elevator, rolling his eyes. This one was familiar, at least part of it. The bridge that stretched onwards, the other side only a speck in the distance; this was the setting of the illusion Peter had been pulled into when the Papillon had tried to akumatize him. There was no doubt about it now.

Gabriel Agreste was the Papillon.

But Peter didn’t understand _why._ Sure, he hated good old Gabe for his treatment of Adrien, but never did he think the man would stoop to acts of domestic terrorism against two teenagers (three, counting himself) with magic jewellery. And as he walked further down the bridge, filling in the details the illusion had not, he was starting to understand.

Because at the end of the bridge stood a clear coffin, the inhabitant captured in a moment in time, her hands folded over her midsection, eyes shut, hair perfectly curled.

“Dead?” Peter whispered to Suluu.

“Not yet, but close. Closer than Nathalie,” Suluu said softly in return. Peter could see her reflection on the glass now, slightly distorted but fiery as ever. The sight was a slight comfort.

“Karen, what kind of coffin am I looking at?” Peter asked. He hadn’t yet considered who the casket’s occupant was. He couldn’t. Better to just gather the facts first, before he let emotions get involved.

“Suspended life tank,” Karen supplied, “similar to the one used to sustain the Winter Soldier, this tank keeps its occupants in a state of eternal sleep, in the hopes that when they’re reopened, the technology will be available to heal them from whatever illnesses plague them. However, they are not meant to be keeping someone for this long. There’s no saying that by opening this tank, its current occupant would be able to be saved. Her internal systems are almost entirely shut down due to their lack of energy. Without an intervention, I’d say this patient has about six months left to suspend before they’re lost forever.” Her even tone faded out, leaving Peter to stare down at the woman.

“Who is she?” Suluu asked, although Peter suspected she already knew the answer.

“Adrien’s mother.” Peter felt a tear slip down the inside of his mask. Here she was, not dead yet, not disappeared, but frozen in time, within a dreamless sleep. Gabriel Agreste had let Adrien believe his mother had vanished, most likely dead, when she’d been here all this time.

 _That’s why he wants the miraculous,_ Peter realized. _To bring her back to life._

“The bastard,” Peter said aloud, his voice cracking slightly as he ran a hand down the side of his mask. “This isn’t right. None of it is. The fact that she’s right here, the way he treats his son, everything he’s done, my role in all of this, can’t you see! It isn’t right! It wasn’t supposed to be Gabriel Agreste, it wasn’t supposed to be Émilie Agreste, it wasn’t supposed to be Adrien, it wasn’t supposed to be _me_!”

 _Listen to logic before you listen to emotion,_ his brain nagged, but Peter shoved the thought aside. To hell with logic. Peter knew how Adrien must’ve felt when he lost his mother, he was familiar with the emptiness that came with losing a family member. And after all that grief, here she was, fast asleep and none the wiser to the way life had deteriorated without her.

“I’m afraid you’ve lost me,” Suluu said.

“The Papillon was supposed to be some bad guy I fight, one I have a minimal personal connection to, one I can easily forgive and do the right thing for. But now that I know who the Papillon is, why he is the Papillon, and what he wants to do with the miraculous, I can’t do it. I can’t do this to Adrien, but I’m not going to be able to keep this from him for long.”

“Peter, you have to. You can’t tell Adrien.” Suluu’s voice took on a hard edge. “You know this. You have to get out of here and go to Master Fu.”

“And what’s he going to do? I have people who could help Adrien’s mom. Mr. Stark could heal her.”

‘There’s some things you just can’t fix, Peter.”

“Or the healing tears! I could heal her!”

“You and I both know that wouldn’t work. And you know why.”

Peter was about to say that no, no he didn’t, when he realized that for once, he knew what the tiny little god was talking about. As soon as Peter opened that tank, the inhabitant would die. And Peter could use his healing tears, but she would want to pass on. _The threshold is a short one._

“I just want to help, I wish there was some way to magically fix this,” he was saying without having made the conscious decision to speak. “I _know_ what it’s like to lose my parents. And if I knew there was a chance I could bring them back… I don’t want Adrien to think I didn’t try. I want to make this better for him.”

“I know you do. But Adrien’s healed once. He’ll heal again. Mr. Agreste wants to bring her back so he can create a family that lives forever, but what he doesn’t realize is that he’s already caused irreparable harm to the family he has left. To escape death is not a gift, but a curse given to those unable to let go, to those unable to look beyond everything the fog that love blinds you with, those unable to see that the value of humanity lies within its mortality. Don’t let the same fog blind you. You’re stronger than this.”

“Here I’d thought you lived all those years and didn’t learn a single thing,” Peter managed a shaky laugh, nodding his head along with Suluu’s wisdom. Somehow she knew just what he needed to hear, somehow she’d made it clear to him that this was not his fault, and whatever he did now was his choice. And the right choice was to go to Master Fu, to do all he could. Adrien would understand that there was no way he could’ve helped. Adrien would understand that the right thing was to go speak with the Guardian.

But before he could, he heard a distant sound, a sound his expert senses immediately labelled as someone entering the study. The elevator shot upwards, disappearing back up into the ceiling of the long hall.

“This is why I told you to keep a lookout!” Peter hissed, now certain that they were under the house.

“Really? And what would I have done if M. Agreste just marched his way into the study?”

“Phased down here and told me about it?”

“Then we’d be in precisely the same spot we are now.”

“Shut up.” Peter grumbled, quickly swinging off the bridge, shrouding himself in the shadows the tall walls cast. Suluu was never more annoying than when she was right. He was absolutely certain he was hidden by the time the elevator came back down, this time containing Gabriel Agreste himself.

He was dressed in his usual attire, no sign of his miraculous or alter ego, a fact of which Peter was grateful. The Papillon was not who he wanted to talk to right now. Gabriel Agreste was.

“Émilie,” Gabriel sunk to his knees by the casket, face clouded with something that looked suspiciously like emotion. Or at least, Peter would’ve believed it could be emotion on anyone else’s face. The expression looked foreign on the man’s usually stoic and frigid features.

“Now’s your chance!” Suluu hissed. “Get to the elevator and out of here!”

“Not yet,” Peter whispered back, voice dropping several octaves to avoid being overheard. “To understand one’s opponent is crucial to beating them.”

“Every day without you,” Gabriel was continuing to grieve down on the grassy patch in front of the tank, hands clasped as if in prayer to a god whose name he’d never learned. “Every day without you is like a lifetime devoid of light. But the end is within sight. The phoenix boy, Helios, has made a grave error.”

Peter raised his eyebrows, intrigued to hear how he might’ve messed up. As far as he was aware, his time as Helios was rather air-tight, with his outings few and far between. There wasn’t much room for error. Which is why he wanted to know what Gabe had picked up on that he hadn’t.

“He’s showed his cards. The boy cares greatly for Ladybug and Chat Noir, as does the Spiderman. However, I assume they could both be swayed if I made some threats on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s lives. Helios is far more powerful than he knows, and to have him on my team would be a guaranteed victory.”

 _Hmmm, I highly doubt that,_ Peter mused, carefully lowering himself towards the bridge. So far the Papillon had been incorrect about every assumption he’d made about Peter, and given that Helios was Peter and he had _far_ more experience dealing with himself, Peter figured he knew the full extent of everything he could do. And threats against Ladybug and Chat Noir’s lives would be meaningless, as Peter could protect them in every form of his being.

“So we meet again, Mr. Papillon.” Peter dropped onto the bridge, a few metres away from where M. Agreste had been plotting four teenagers’ collective demise. Or three teenagers, considering that two of them were the same person. “I couldn’t help but overhear your master plan and, not to be ‘that guy’, I can think of a few things wrong with it.”

Adrien’s dad wheeled around, completely surprised before his expression hardened into something determined and dangerous, like he was a lion who’d been waiting at the watering hole and Peter was a nice juicy buffalo that had just arrived. His next words curled off his tongue, lingering in the moist air of the underground cavern.

“Is that so?”

Welp, Peter had chosen his hill to die on. So he folded his arms across his chest, fixing M. Agreste with an intimidating stare of his own. “Yeah, given that I’ve spoken to Helios and he thinks you suck and I’m currently of the same opinion.”

“Opinions can be swayed,” he challenged. “Are you saying that if Ladybug and Chat Noir were in danger, you two wouldn’t do everything in your power to save them?”

“They’d never be in danger because I already do everything in my power to protect them.”

“And yet…you’re here. Why?”

“Cuz I don’t like you, and I knew you were hiding something. A super rich dude whose wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances who treats his son like a prisoner out on parole and never leaves the house? Sounds kind of sketch, Gabriel.”

“So you broke into my house sneak around?”

“And if I did? It’s not like you can call the cops or anything. I’d love to see you try and explain why you have your half-dead wife in a suspension tank.”

He’d struck a nerve, Peter could tell. And before he could backtrack, his enemy transformed before him, going from a snobby fashion designer to a supervillain in a matter of seconds, popping the cap on his staff.

An all-too familiar black butterfly floated towards Peter.

But as always, he was ready for it. He closed his eyes and pictured Adrien, Marinette, Alya, Nino, and all the good times they’d had together. Hell, he even pictured Felix and Chloé. Adrien’s expression when he’d realized Peter had sabotaged his heist trophy rose to the focus point of his mind’s eye, causing Peter to laugh.

Peter had always been gutsy, but laughing in the face of evil was a new one. The butterfly floated in front of him, uncertain of what to do now that Peter wasn’t afraid. Wasn’t bothered at all, actually.

“How?” The Papillon’s expression at the new realization that yet another person couldn’t be akumatized was hilarious. Peter wished he had a camera. Then he remembered that he did. Oh boy, he was _definitely_ going to be reviewing this footage later.

“The story of Spiderman has been riddled with tragedy, but I’m determined to make this ending a happily ever after. And a happily ever after doesn’t involve fighting my best friends, thank you very much.”

Out of options, the Papillon ran at him, but Peter blocked the strike of his staff with ease, leaping over his head and landing next to the casket while his opponent seethed.

“Get away from her!” The purple clad supervillain shouted, but Peter paid no mind to his agitated state.

“How could you do this to Adrien?” He said, calmly as ever, a finger ghosting the contours of Émilie’s face above the glass.

“ _To_ Adrien? I do this _for_ Adrien!”

“Even if you were to bring her back, who’s to say he’ll forgive you?”

“He will. He’ll be on my side, he’ll see it was the only way to bring her back, to give us a happy family once more.”

Peter turned his gaze away from the glass, his expression filled with a pity the Papillon couldn’t see. “You know he could never be a part of that, not after everything you’ve done to him.”

“But he’ll see it was all for the best, you foolish child,” M. Agreste spat. “What could possibly be more important to him than having his family back together again?”

“You’re not the only family he has anymore.” Peter shook his head. “When our real family abandons us, we have a way of forming our own. And Adrien’s moved on. It’s about time you did too.”

“How can you possibly know him? You think you know him better than me?”

“I think everyone does. You’ve been so intent on bringing her back that you’ve failed to see that by doing so, you’re destroying the little family you have left. Adrien deserves to have people who care for him.”

The Papillon struck again, but Peter, once again, dodged him with ease, refusing to be riled by his enemy’s words.

“He deserves to have his mother back, and this is the only way!”

“There’s always another way.” Peter grabbed his staff as Gabriel took another swing at him, easily yanking it away and twirling it out of reach of the stumbling man, thrown off balance. “As for deserve, that’s one thing about life, isn’t it? No one ever gets what they deserve. Those who have faced sorrow deserve nothing but light, but that’s not what you’re giving Adrien. By shutting him out, by doing all this, you’re just leaving him in the dark.” He broke the staff over his knee and it shattered like glass, exploding in front of him and sending purple shards flying. He didn’t know if it would automatically reappear the next time M. Agreste transformed, and he didn’t quite care. It was a victory for now, a strong action to accompany the weight of his words.

“You deserve nothing,” Peter continued, walking around a thoroughly dumb-struck supervillain. “And yet, if you were to change your ways, I’d be obligated to forgive you. But I’m not the one you’ve harmed, so it’s not my place to say. Cling to whatever belief you’d like, but if you try to hurt my friends, I’ll be there to block every blow.” He raised his voice as he walked further away, headed back to the elevator. “Just know that you’ll never get their miraculous, and even if you did, it would never be enough. Even with the small amount of power that you have, you abuse it, use it to make others hurt. And you enjoy it. This isn’t about your wife. Maybe it never was. Strength is not a measure of power, but of the content of one’s character.” Peter stepped into the elevator, turning to face the Papillon one last time.

“Why don’t you just fight me here, then? If you’re so confident, end the war right now.”

“This isn’t a war. And even if it was, it wouldn’t be mine to fight. Not alone, anyways. Maybe this is my last attempt to reach you before you’re too far gone, to see if you’re someone worth saving in the end.”

“That’s not up to you to decide.” The Papillon was striding forwards, determination written all over his features. Peter, however, had had enough.

“You’re right. It’s up to you.” And with that, Peter shot out a web, closing the elevator doors and causing it to shoot up back towards the house, leaving the Papillon clinging to the shredded fragments of his beliefs. Maybe he’d managed to get through to him, maybe not, but the important thing was that Peter had tried. And he knew in his heart he was right.

He knew he was right about the Papillon and right about Adrien as he swung out of the house, headed towards Master Fu’s as fast as his webs would carry him. Adrien had Ladybug, Adrien had Spiderman, Adrien had Peter.

Adrien didn’t need his father’s manipulation anymore, and never would again. And if Adrien and Peter ever grew apart, their memories of the times they’d shared together faded, he hoped that at least Adrien would remember what it was like to be loved by someone who never wanted anything in return.

Peter had said Adrien had a new family now, and he meant it.

Before he could even fully process what had gone down between him and the Papillon, Peter was knocking on Master Fu’s door, shuffling from side to side. Suluu was being uncharacteristically quiet, having hidden herself somewhere around Peter’s belt. The Spidey suit didn’t offer many spots for hiding kwamis, but she’d managed nonetheless.

Master Fu opened the door, muttering something about being closed for the day when he froze, hand on the doorframe, taking in Spiderman’s appearance. Shards of the Papillon’s staff were still clinging to him, along with sticky residue of some of his webs, all thoroughly drenched from the torrential downpour he’d had to endure on his way over.

“I know.” Peter said by means of greeting. “I found him.”

The Guardian’s eyes looked like they were about to burst out of his head. “Say no more.” He opened the door all the way, allowing Peter to slip inside. Master Fu hadn’t been alone. Marinette was sitting in the middle of the room, her kwami floating beside her.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, standing up quickly.

“I could say the same for you. And without Chat Noir?”

“Chat Noir doesn’t know where the Guardian lives.” So clearly neither of them were planning on accounting for their presences.

“Clearly.” Peter furrowed his brow. Why were they intentionally keeping Adrien in the dark? Something in his gut was stirring, a nasty feeling that Peter hated. Anger was an ugly colour on him, but nonetheless he could feel it bubbling up inside. Why was everyone so intent on shutting Adrien out?

“Marinette,” Master Fu shut the door, joining them in the main room. “We’ll have to cut this meeting short. Spiderman has come to me with some crucial information we must discuss at once.”

“But shouldn’t I be here for that?” Marinette looked between the two of them with pleading eyes. “You’ve never kept things from me, Master.”

“Another time, Ladybug.” Master Fu smiled at her good-naturedly, drawing an arm back towards the door, inviting her to leave.

“If this is something important, I don’t think I should be sidelined!”

“Really now.” Peter tilted his head. “Sort of like what you’re apparently doing to Chat Noir?” Something about them excluding Adrien didn’t sit right with him. Sure, Chat Noir was reckless sometimes, but above all he was a good person, capable of keeping his own secrets. It was unfair for Master Fu to establish a relationship with Ladybug and now Spiderman without ever consulting Chat.

“Spidey, that’s…,” Marinette seemed to be unsure of how to continue the sentence. Instead, she just shrugged lamely and accepted the umbrella her mentor handed her.

The door had barely closed behind her before Peter rounded on Master Fu. “You can’t do this to Adrien! He deserves to know everything you’re telling her and me!”

“You said you learned the identity of the Papillon. So you must understand why Adrien must not know where the miraculous are kept.”

“Bullshit!” Peter knew there was probably some rule about not swearing to the Guardian of the Miraculous or some equally pretentious etiquette about respecting his elders, but at this point he simply didn’t care. “Let’s look at it from Adrien’s perspective, shall we?”

He was dripping water all over the building’s clean, hardwood floors, but Peter began to pace in front of Master Fu. The old man simply gave a wave, allowing him to continue.

“His mom disappears, his dad refuses to tell him anything. Ever since then, his life deteriorates further, essentially loses the only family he has left, becomes a commodity, a prisoner to a life he never wanted. Then, then you offer him a ticket to freedom. You make him Chat Noir. As Chat Noir, he meets Ladybug, and he finally realizes what it means to trust someone with his whole being, to have someone who trusts him in return. And they’ve always been the perfect partnership, always in sync and together and always _trusting._ You must realize that their relationship is built on trust. And then you go and prioritize Ladybug and her training above him, keeping him separate, in the dark. Can you imagine how he’ll feel when he finds out?”

Master Fu opened his mouth, as if to speak, but Peter cut him off again.

“And I know exactly what you’re going to say. You’re going to say that you can’t tell him anything because his dad is the Papillon and Adrien is a weak link in your whole plan. To that, my good sir, I say that’s fucking stupid. If you even _bothered_ to get to know Adrien as anything further than a surface level acquaintanceship, you’d realize he’s the furthest thing from his father a person could be. You’ve made the mistake of thinking he’d choose his father above Ladybug, above protecting everything you’ve spent your life building. Everyone thinks they know him in his entirety, but you don’t. Not you, not the Papillon, hell, not even me! You can’t judge a person for actions they haven’t yet committed.”

“You speak with certainty,” Master Fu said, his eyes glittering as they settled on Peter. “Yet you just said that no one can truly know what Adrien will choose in the end.”

“That’s not what I said.” Peter’s voice had grown shakier than he would’ve liked, and a part of him wanted to change his suit’s audio input to hide it. But the bigger part of him, the one that refused to be ashamed of his emotions, won over. “I said we don’t know him inside and out, and that’s true. Because no one can ever know what a person’s thinking, how they feel, all the time. But I do know that Adrien will choose what’s right. He’d never let someone he loves get hurt. And with all that I know of him, I do know that he is stronger than you give him credit for. You’re a fool to underestimate Adrien Agreste.”

He tilted his chin up slightly, rolling his shoulders back as he regarded the tiny man before him. Peter knew that Master Fu had his faults, one of them being the confidence of his own judgement. And here stood Spiderman, threatening the stronghold of the Guardian’s own prejudices.

“Mr. Parker, you are definitely an enigma,” Master Fu finally replied. “You would weight the lives of everyone involved in this on your own opinion of who Adrien Agreste is?”

“Definitely. You’ve already done the same.” Peter refused to back down. If this were the hill he were to die on, so be it. Today was a day of taking a stand for him, and as emotionally draining it was on so little sleep, he soldiered on. “Because the most harm you’ll do by telling him is potentially having the Papillon know a few secrets, which is highly unlikely. Whereas if you don’t tell him, you could potentially create another supervillain, for who’s to say what he will be once you break his trust.”

“The strength of your loyalty does not go unnoticed, Peter.”

“I simply just don’t judge people based on who their parents are. That only continues the cycle.”

It was a stare down, both parties looking at each other, unwilling to back down from their opposing stances. Until-

“Very well.” Master Fu gave a deep nod, stepping backwards slightly. “I shall entertain the possibility of potentially being more open with Chat Noir. For now, I believe you have a discovery you came to share with me?”

Peter took a deep breath, coming back down from his state of passion. Defending Adrien seemed to be becoming a sort of pastime for him. But Master Fu had clearly understood the point of his lecture. Time to move on, to talk about things more detrimental than Adrien’s character.

“I came face to face with him again. I didn’t plan on it, but I found a secret entrance hidden in his study. There’s two hidden rooms. The first, filled with butterflies. The akumas? I guess, and the peacock miraculous.”

“Did you bring it?” Master Fu glanced down at Spiderman’s hands, as if Peter had been hanging onto it.

“No, because at that point I was intending on snooping around without leaving a trail. Then we went down further, and…he keeps his wife down there.”

“Émilie Agreste? Is she alive?” That, Master Fu had not known. Peter proceeded to show him the footage his suit had gathered, along with his and the Papillon’s exchange. Watching it a second time allowed Peter to really realize how totally _fucked_ the entire situation was. His head was starting to swim. Poor poor _poor_ Adrien.

When it was over, Master Fu only had one question for Peter, and somehow it was the one he couldn’t answer.

“Are you going to tell him?”

Peter sunk to the floor, drawing his knees up to his chest. “I don’t know.” It was all he could say. “But for now, I’m just going to go for a walk in the rain. Just to try and get some of this off my mind. It’s been a long day.”

His feet had never been so heavy as he made his way back to the Agreste mansion, suit off, allowing himself to be drenched to the bone. Suluu flew along beside him, the light she emitted appearing streaky in the rain. Everything was catching up to him all at once. Adrien’s mother was alive. There was a chance (no matter how slim) that she could be saved, and Adrien could at least have one parent to stick around once this was all over. There were so many thoughts crowded in his head, all jostling for precedence, to the point where Peter could barely see above the sound of his own thoughts.

His trip was cut surprisingly short when he crossed a street, headed in what he hoped was the direction home, and all but smacked into an equally drenched body.

“Peter?”

“Alya?” He squinted through the droplets that dripped down his brow bone. “What are you doing out in this weather?”

“Headed to Mari’s. You want to come?”

Peter shook his head, an unexpected lump welling up in his throat and he sniffled, hard. He didn’t know why he was crying, but something about standing out in the rain, the weight of the world on his shoulders and any plan he’d had to defeat the Papillon crashing down around him was really doing a number on his emotions.

“Are you okay?” Alya peered at him, concerned.

“No,” Peter replied honestly. “I’m sorry, I’m making you late.”

“I’m not going.” Alya decided, throwing her arm across Peter’s shoulders and steering him away from the bakery, back in the direction of her house. “You’re coming home with me. My family is out of town with my mom for some cooking thing, and I’m not letting you go back to the ice palace like that.”

“I-ice palace?” Peter sniffed, looking at Alya with teary eyes.

“The Agreste manor is no place for you to be if you’re in an emotional state. You don’t have to talk to me, but I’m not going to make you stay there.” She opened the door to her apartment, letting Peter in, unconcerned about him dripping on the carpet. “I’m going to raid my sister Nora’s closet. Her clothes will probably be a bit baggy on you, but it’s better than nothing.”

Within a few minutes, Peter was mostly dried off, dressed in a massive sweater and baggy cargo pants and sitting wrapped up in a heated blanket on Alya’s sofa. Alya herself had also changed, and was now making two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

“Thank you.” Peter accepted a mug from her as she sat beside him, her eyes filled with worry.

“Do you want to talk about it, or be distracted from it?” Alya asked.

“Right now? Distracted, I think.” Peter stared at the marshmallows dissolving in the steaming liquid, idly wondering how it would feel to be a marshmallow himself. Marshmallows had no responsibility. They existed to die. What a thrill that must be.

“Wanna watch a movie, then?” Alya flicked through the various streaming services on her tv before settling on a movie Peter had seen a million times before. Ferris Bueller was a feel-good movie that never failed to make him smile, but Peter couldn’t help longing throughout the entire thing that he could be Ferris, so carefree and loose.

In fact, by the time the credits rolled, Peter felt more stressed out than ever. “I need to call Adrien.”

Alya glanced at him. Peter was sure he looked a mess; runny nose, red eyes, stringy hair, but his appearance was the furthest thing from his mind.

“Did you two fight or something?”

“No, not in the slightest. I didn’t even tell him I was going out, and he must be so worried.”

“Tell him you’re staying the night.”

“Alya…”

“You know what? Let me call him.”

Alya disappeared into another room with his phone but it did little to prevent Peter from listening in.

“Hey, Adrien? No, it’s Alya. Yeah, he’s here with me. Do you know why I found him sobbing in the rain, completely drenched to the bone and shivering? No? Well he’s staying the night. Yes. Yes. You’re welcome to come over too. I can’t promise a gourmet meal or anything I wasn’t really planning for company but…oh, you’re on your way? Okay, bye.”

She came back into the room, giving Peter a small smile. “He’s on his way. Before he gets here, do you wanna talk about anything?”

Somehow, Peter thought saying ‘ _Yeah, I’m Spiderman and Helios, Adrien is Chat Noir and Marinette is Ladybug and today I figured out that Adrien’s dad is the Papillon and needless to say I’m feeling a little stressed out right now.’_ would not go over particularly well with Alya. 

“Do you ever feel like people put a lot of pressure and expectations on your shoulders that you could never possibly live up to? Like everyone’s got this picture of who you are in their head, and you just know that’s not who you can be?”

Alya nodded along, her hand lightly rubbing his back as Peter let it out, being as vague as possible while still voicing his woes.

“And somehow everyone’s got it through their heads that I’m someone to look up to, because I know a lot about some things and I try to keep a positive attitude, but no one really knows what goes on in my head. My life’s been about as hard as they come, so I come out here with a smile and an attitude to make others’ lives better, but at the end of the day, I can’t live up to the standard I set for myself. And I’m just so tired of everything.” He clasped his hands together in between his knees, drawing in a shaky breath. “And sometimes all I want to do is run from my problems, but I can’t do that when the people I love are at risk. But I think that by trying to help, I only stand to make things worse.”

“Peter, no one expects you to be perfect,” Alya said softly.

“That’s just the thing, Alya. They do.” Peter looked her dead in the eye. “Because when I mess up, people get hurt. I can’t afford to mess up, I’ve done it so many times already. And I’m scared if Adrien finds out about some of the things I know, he’ll….” He trailed off, tears tracing wet paths down his cheeks.

“No matter what it is you can’t tell him, he’ll never hate you,” Alya soothed. “You know that.”

“I don’t want to hurt him.”

“If you live your life concerned about how every single thing you know could impact others, you’re not living at all. As long as your heart’s in the right place, that’s all Adrien cares about, I promise you.” Alya gave him a pat on the back as a knock at the door rang out through the apartment, causing Peter to flinch. He was thoroughly unprepared to face Adrien, but at the same time Adrien was the only person he wanted to see.

* * *

Adrien was at the door, holding a large garbage bag and hoping and praying that its contents weren’t soaked through.

“Hello?” Alya tilted her head, looking at his unusual choice of suitcase as she opened the door, dressed in her pyjamas.

“It was the first waterproof bag I could find,” Adrien said by means of explanation, stepping into the apartment. His eyes were instantly drawn to the sorry sight on Alya’s couch. Peter was swaddled in a blanket, showing every sign of having cried his eyes out over the past few hours. What had gone down between his cheerful post-reveal attitude and now, Adrien didn’t know, but right now Peter needed friends, not people who were going to pry.

It was most likely something going on in his Spidey life, or his life back home for all Adrien knew. Nonetheless his heart broke a tiny bit at the sight of his friend. He wished he could be there for Peter through all of it, but that was impossible. Adrien was only part of a small fraction of the whole that was Peter’s life and there was so much that he didn’t comprehend. That he couldn’t possibly fathom. Peter was strong because of all he’d been through, but Adrien knew if he lived through even half of the pain Peter had seen, he wouldn’t be nearly as whole as the boy who sat in front of him. And in that way, he could never understand. And maybe no one ever would be able to.

Like walking backwards while looking at Monet’s paintings, Adrien was finally starting to see what a lonely life Peter led, lonelier than most superheroes. At the end of Adrien’s day, he had Ladybug and he could always rely on her. But Peter? Spiderman? He was alone out there, doing his best to fill the massive shoes Iron Man handed him.

“Peter?” Adrien sat next to Peter on the couch, uncertain what to do. Everyone was always so guarded with their emotions around him, Adrien didn’t know what to do with such a blatant display.

“I’m just having a moment,” Peter’s voice was muffled from the section of blanket that was wrapped around his mouth. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“You gonna be okay?”

“Oh, for sure.” Peter drew the blanket away from his face, giving Adrien a small smile. “Sometimes I just need a drama queen moment. The semblance of composure is overrated.”

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Adrien had no idea what to do with his hands, settling them in his lap awkwardly. How on earth did Peter deal with being Adrien/Chat Noir’s personal therapist all the time? Peter always knew exactly what to say. If only Adrien were the same way.

“Sometimes there’s some things better left unsaid,” Peter said earnestly.

“I’m going to order sushi,” Alya interrupted, typing a few things into her phone. “What do you guys want?”

“Miso soup and California rolls,” Peter and Adrien said in unison.

“You two are weird.” Alya rolled her eyes, holding her phone up to her ear and wandering into the kitchen.

“Did you talk to Lady?” Peter asked as soon as Alya was out of earshot. Adrien shook his head, blond hair flying.

“She didn’t answer any of my messages. Maybe she’s mad at me, who knows. Either way, Alya called me and I came right over.”

“Thanks, Adrien. You really are the best friend I could ever ask for.”

“We’re not friends at this point,” Adrien said before he realized how that must sound. “I mean! We’re brothers. If that’s what you think too. I definitely feel like we’re closer than just friends, and I’ve never had a sibling but I think this is the closest it gets? If that’s a weird thing to say, just let me know.”

“It’s not weird at all.” Peter laughed. “If we’re brothers, though, you’ll have to endure Parker thanksgiving. Think of it as a worse version of blood brothers finger pricking. Trauma bonding, if you will.”

“What’s that?” Adrien tilted his head, racking through the section of his brain devoted to American customs. He couldn’t recall any mention of a thanksgiving. Nor did he really know what a ‘blood brother finger prick’ was, but given the context he could get the general gist.

“Thanksgiving? It’s this American thing, I guess, where we get together with family and…eat a turkey? Kind of like Christmas but not really.”

“When is this thanksgiving?”

“Fourth Thursday of November. I’ll get Mr. Stark to fly us back to New York, it can be a whole thing.” Peter grinned, looking thoroughly cheered up. “In fact, I’ll call him right…” His voice trailed off as he pulled out his already-vibrating phone. “Uhhh, one second.”

Adrien glanced at the screen. Someone named Happy?

“Heyyyyy Happy!” Peter answered the phone, gritting his teeth in an awkward smile. “Me? Fighting a gunman? Yeah, is there any point in trying to tell you that _wasn’t_ me? No? Well then, I’ll simply tell you that the situation was appropriately handled. Mhmm…. Nope…. _No._ Yeah, you too. Give him my love- I know, I know you won’t.”

He hung up, rolling his eyes. “Happy was mad about this morning and apparently Mr. Stark is livid that the guy was sent here to kill me, so he went all the way to SHIELD headquarters to interrogate him himself.”

“Who is ‘Happy’?”

“Oh, Happy is Mr. Stark’s head of security. He oversees a lot of stuff, like me.”

Adrien blinked. “It’s so weird how you just like…know _Tony Stark_. Like you have his personal cellphone number and can call him at any moment.”

“You know Tony Stark’s personal cell number?” Alya had returned. Peter shifted awkwardly and Adrien could see the wheels in his head turning, deciding whether to lie or not.

“Yeah, he and I are pretty close. But I can’t get you an interview with him! I don’t want to abuse our connection.”

“That’s fair,” Alya mused. “I guess you already did get me that interview with Spiderman. It’s one of my most popular videos to date.”

“See! All is forgiven!” Peter spread his hands, as the doorbell rang. “And dinner is here!”

After the trio had dug into their delicious dinner (while Alya made fun of them for not going with more adventurous options) they set up for the night. Adrien had brought the Stark Industries sleeping bags and pyjamas for both him and Peter so they could set up camp on Alya’s couch. Alya herself saw them to bed before retiring to her bedroom, wishing them sweet dreams.

“Time to call Mr. Stark,” Peter said with a grin, sliding his phone out of his sleeping bag and dialling a number.

“Put him on speakerphone,” Adrien hissed. Peter obliged, letting the soft dial tone echo throughout the room.

“Just the man I wanted to talk to!” Iron Man’s familiar voice rang out, causing a shiver to go down Adrien’s spine. That was _the_ Tony Stark at the other end of the line, and Peter was about to ask him to fly them out in one of his private planes. Adrien usually flew privately, but the concept of being in a plane that Iron Man had designed?! That was something entirely different altogether. “ _Excellent_ work with that shooter this morning, that was really some excellent fighting. I saw some of the security footage, and you really managed to kick his ass!”

“Thanks Mr. Stark, but I was actually-”

“Don’t even worry about the death threats. I’ve got it covered. That’s just a sign that you’re maturing into a real hero! I mean, can you even say you have enemies until someone’s got a personal vendetta against you? Good job, kid.”

“Thanks Mr. Stark, but I was actually calling to ask if we could use one of your jets sometime this month?”

“Any particular reason why?” Mr. Stark didn’t sound terribly opposed to the idea. That was a good sign.

“Well, I was wondering if I could fly two of my friends out to New York for thanksgiving?”

That made Adrien pause. Two? Who was the other person?

“They’ll both have to sign non-disclosure agreements pertaining to some of the… add-ons I’ve got in there, but sure. Am I invited to your thanksgiving dinner this year? I was waiting for an invite last year, but you never sent one.”

Peter practically choked over his next sentence. “Yeah, yeah, totally! You don’t need an invite at all! Ever! I’ll tell my aunt that you’ll be coming! Thanks a ton, Mr. Stark.”

“You are currently the only thing demanding my attention, so why not. Send over the details, and I’ll sign off on them.”

“Okay.” Peter was smiling so wide, it threatened to split his face open as he ended the call. Adrien raised an eyebrow, squirming in his sleeping bag to properly face Peter.

“Who’s the other person?”

“I said thanksgiving is about spending time with family, didn’t I?” Peter had a mischievous glint in his eye, prominent even in the dark of night. Not usually a good sign.

“What did you do, you gremlin?”

“I’m inviting Felix too!” Peter looked like Christmas had come early. “Because if we’re bros, then he’s my cousin too!”

“Great.” Adrien blinked. “That’s…really great, Peter. I can’t wait.”

Peter and Felix had met _once_ and to Adrien at least it seemed a tad odd to invite him on a trip to a different country, but Peter apparently had zero qualms. And if the prospect of bringing Felix on their trip cheered him up, then who was Adrien to disagree.

“Hey Adrien?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being my friend.” Peter sounded so sincere, Adrien’s eyes pricked unexpectedly.

“Says the one who saves my ass every second day.”

“Your ass is the only thing you’ve got going for you, can’t let anything happen to it.” Peter’s complete deadpan was suddenly the funniest thing Adrien had ever heard, and he was silently cackling within seconds, a hand smacked over his mouth to avoid waking Alya. Peter watched him writhe for the next few minutes, attempting to catch his breath amongst a fit of giggles.

“You good now?” Peter braved once Adrien had calmed down slightly. Of course, that set Adrien off again.

“I’m going to be in so much trouble when I go back home tomorrow morning,” he laughed.

“Then don’t go back,” Peter said simply. That, at least, got Adrien to stop losing it.

“What?”

“We could buy a place somewhere. You wouldn’t have to go back home ever again.”

“Peter, that’s crazy. I can’t just leave.” Adrien shook his head, settling down in his sleeping bag and fixing his gaze against the far wall, his eyelids slowly beginning to droop.

“If you ever change your mind, just say the word,” Peter whispered, his voice like a blanket that settled over Adrien.

Adrien drifted off, only to wake up a few hours later, vaguely aware of a silhouette standing over him. He could’ve sworn it was Spiderman, with some sort of glowing light beside him and whispering an apology of sorts, but then he fell back asleep, his brain stringing the memory along with the rest of his dreams.

When he woke up in the morning, the window was open and Peter was gone.

* * *

Marinette woke up far earlier than she would’ve liked. The rain from the night before had turned into a light drizzle, covering Paris in a grey wash that seemed to suck any promise the morning might’ve held right out of her. And when she went downstairs, she found she had a visitor.

Her mother was still there, not tending to the bakery, which was strange for a weekend. Instead, she was tending to the boy who was currently sitting in Marinette’s usual spot at the kitchen table.

“Peter?” She blinked, as though she was simply imagining him.

“Hey, Marinette!” Peter grinned at her, giving her a big wave, despite the obvious bags under his eyes and his sickly pallor. “I’ve never listened to French radio, but your mom put it on for me! Isn’t this song pretty?”

It was playing ‘Non, je ne regrette rien’, a song Marinette had heard a million times before, but all she could do was nod and shoot her mother a questioning look.

“Mama, can I speak to you upstairs for a moment?”

Her mother sighed when Marinette lead her to her bedroom, flopping down on her chaise. “I know what you’re going to say, Marinette, but Peter turned up this morning around three am. The kid looks like he hasn’t slept in days. I don’t know what’s going on at the Agreste house, but be was barely cohesive from exhaustion when he showed up here, saying he needed somewhere to sleep but couldn’t go home. He also kept saying ‘It’s Gabriel’ over and over again before he passed out on the couch.”

Marinette felt her mouth drop open. She’d assumed her parents had invited Peter over as a way of being more buddy-buddy with him, but obviously there was so much more to the story than that.

“I don’t want to overstep, but maybe you can check in with him?” Her mother gave Marinette a knowing look and she nodded.

“I’ll try asking him,” she agreed, heading back down to join her friend.

As soon as they were alone in the house, Marinette turned to him. “What is ‘it’s Gabriel’?”

Peter flinched, like he’d been shocked, glancing at her with wide eyes. “He’s Adrien’s father?”

“My mom says that’s what you were repeating when you showed up here.”

“Oh my god!” Peter dropped his fork. “I left Adrien at Alya’s!” He changed gears so fast Marinette’s train of thought completely derailed.

“Adrien? At Alya’s? Peter, calm down and tell me what you’re talking about.” Marinette gripped his arm.

“I’m a bit of an insomniac,” Peter admitted, “ and usually at night when I can’t sleep, I go for a little stroll. Only, last night, I was at Alya’s house with Adrien for some unrelated reasons, and I couldn’t sleep, so I left and I was thinking about some stuff, and I guess I started sleepwalking – well, not really sleepwalking, but I didn’t really make any sort of conscious decisions – and showed up here. I don’t know what I was on about. I mean, Gabriel sucks, so maybe my sleep-deprived mind just went crazy.”

Marinette, for some reason, didn’t find herself believing him. Something about him seemed off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. And by her quick mental calculations, Peter had gotten about seven hours of sleep in the past two days.

“Peter, go home and sleep.” She mustered an insisting tone.

“I can’t.” Peter shook his head, eyes widening slightly. “That’s twice in two days I’ve completely abandoned Adrien without telling him where I’m going. I’m being _such_ a bad friend.” He buried his head in his hands. “He’s going to think it’s something he did, but I just don’t trust myself not to-”

Peter cut himself off with a harsh intake of breath, obviously before he could say something important.

“This is something to do with his dad, isn’t it.” Marinette watched as Peter did his best to avoid her gaze, even going so far as to side-eye her fridge.

“He’s not a good person,” Peter sighed, after a few moments internal battle. There was more to it, she knew, but this was a good start.

“I mean, I figured, but-”

“You don’t even know half of it, and I can’t tell you right now, but I want nothing more than to just take Adrien and run away back to New York so his father can’t hurt him anymore, but that’s not how it works. It’s not how it works and Adrien’s going to get hurt and I can’t stop it. I can only catalyze it. And that thought scares me, so I run away and distance myself, but he doesn’t need that. What he needs is for someone to be by his side.”

“Peter….” Marinette was at a loss for words. Her first instinct was to want to help Adrien, to do whatever was necessary to keep him away from harm, but she knew Peter was already doing that. And Peter could do a far better job than she currently could. The only thing she could fix right now was Peter’s presence and his obvious internalized guilt of the whole situation. She didn’t know _what_ Gabriel Agreste was doing, but obviously Peter somehow thought it was partially his fault. And she couldn’t have that.

“Peter you need to go home. I don’t know what’s going on, but the best thing you can do for Adrien is be by his side. Pushing him away isn’t going to help the situation.”

“But what if I mess up again and run off again and…ugh!” Peter stood up. “I’m just going to stick to him like a leech. I can’t do anything wrong if I just don’t let him out of my sight. I just really wish this wasn’t another thing I am responsible for.”

“You need to sleep too,” Marinette pointed out. “You look like a wreck.”

“Sleep is for mere mortals,” Peter mumbled, mildly coherent as he headed towards the window, of all things.

“You’re a mortal too.” _Even though most days you seem superhuman._ A chill ran down her back as she thought of Helios and the way he commanded attention. The thought that the phoenix holder was the same boy as was currently in front of her was almost laughable, but then again, she’d seen Peter do plenty extraordinary things while in ordinary clothes.

“Yeah, but mortal was a word created to encompass all that _you_ are. Your own in-consequentialism and deontology is imperative to your identity and sense of self belonging.”

Marinette felt like that was an insult, but she hadn’t quite understood it enough to formulate an opinion. How had this American boy learned more French than her in such little time? “Go home, Peter.”

“I’ll just go out through the fire escape.” Peter was now opening her window. Marinette frowned.

“What’s a fire escape?”

Before she got an answer, Peter had _jumped out the window._ Marinette yelled, running over, but by the time she poked her head out Peter had completely vanished, as if into thin air. Maybe he wasn’t a mortal after all. Plus, he’d openly admitted to scaling the outside of their school during the heist. Perhaps his grip strength really was all that, sleep deprived or not.

Either way, Marinette hoped he sorted things out with Adrien. The two boys were so close, she’d hate to see anything draw a wedge in between them, especially if said wedge was M. Agreste.

“Hey Tikki?” Marinette opened her purse, allowing her kwami to fly out. “What on earth does deontology mean?”

“Peter Parker has _very_ colourful insults!” Tikki chirped, rather unhelpfully.

“Yeah, but what does that _mean_.”

“I’ll tell you, but you won’t like it.”

It took about ten minutes of Tikki explaining for Marinette to get even a gist of what Peter had been saying to her, and another ten for her to locate her barely-used dictionary.

“He’s not the only one who knows big words,” she huffed, dragging the massive book into her lap.

“That’s right!” Tikki agreed. “I once heard you use ‘anticonstitutionnellement’ in a sentence!”

“I’m pretty sure that sentence was me asking what it means.”

“Knowing that the word exists is the first step!”

Marinette let out a long sigh, spreading some jam on a piece of bread. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious to know what Peter had found out that he was so desperate to keep from Adrien, but given how he’d reacted, she didn’t know if she would be able to handle it.

Maybe some truths were better left untold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter DO be under a lot of pressure tho and honestly?? I relate (although it goes without saying that I didn’t just learn that my best friend’s dad is keeping their partially dead mom in their basement) 
> 
> And as a reminder to all my American readers who are of age and able: please go vote!!!! Every vote strengthens the foundation of democracy and helps you formulate your future!!! I won’t say anything more as I’m not American and admittedly have a poor understanding of how their system works but VOTE!!!
> 
> That’s all from me now, folks. See you next time!


	14. La Séance Photo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knew the famous upside-down Spiderman style kiss had to happen at some point... :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t post this yesterday because I had a biology test I had to study for so I had no time to edit but I’m back!! And not dead (because I’m sure that was everyone’s first thought when I didn’t post on either of my usual two days). Anyways, I come bearing the thanksgiving side plot please forgive me
> 
> Also because of the horrible time consumer that is school, I haven’t had time to do a drawing in FOREVER but I will be posting a character sketch template under the ‘extras’ tab on my Pinterest: https://pin.it/3ue7HhB  
> (Fun fact: I filled out one of these templates for every single character who appears in this fic. Every. Single. One. It’s time consuming, but it definitely helps flush out the characters)

Nathalie was waiting for him the second he set foot in the door, and that’s when Adrien knew he screwed up big time. Her face was concentrated with more disapproval than Adrien had ever seen, practically vibrating with anger as he conjured up his best innocuous expression.

“Care to tell me where you’ve been all night?” Ah, so she’d noticed that he’d snuck (read: sprinted) out of the house the evening prior. He was really in the hot seat now.

“I went to help out a friend, and I didn’t have time to ask for permission. Sorry.” He shuffled his weight from one foot to the other, awaiting his punishment.

“At least Mr. Parker had the forethought to have his boss call us and tell me he would be working the night shift in his office. Why is it that I know where _he_ is at all times but not you?”

“I’m sorry Nathalie. I won’t run off like that next time.” Adrien idly wondered who’d called in for Peter while Nathalie finished her lecture before banishing him off to his room. He didn’t mind. He’d been planning on disappearing to his room for some good old fashioned solitude anyways, listening to Nathalie’s reminders about the evening’s photoshoot get further and further away.

Only, his room wasn’t empty. Spiderman was hanging precariously from the ceiling, inspecting the DVD’s that lined his wall.

“Peter?”

At the sound of Adrien’s voice, Spiderman turned, his face masking disappearing, leaving Peter exposed from neck up. It was weird, seeing his friend’s face on Spiderman’s body. That being said, Peter looked like a disaster. Adrien had seen prettier roadkill.

“Hey Adrien!” Peter swung off Adrien’s upper level, landing neatly in front of him. “Sorry, I had to go for a walk and it’s just-”

“Peter, it’s fine,” Adrien interrupted. “Whatever you’re going through, that you can’t tell me, you deal with it however you need to.” The fact that Peter had even the thought to apologize for taking off was all Adrien needed. He’d been making excuses for people his whole life. Peter never tried to hide behind flimsy excuses and had been realer with him than any other person around him.

Peter stepped forwards, gripping Adrien in a tight, almost desperate hug. “I’m going to go take a nap. Thank you for being you, Adri.”

“I’ve got a photoshoot this evening, as Nathalie so helpfully reminded me at the tail end of her lecture, so I’ll be gone late afternoon.”

“I’ll come with you,” Peter offered quickly, despite the fact he was literally swaying on the spot.

“No, you need to go sleep.”

“I’ll sleep, but then I’ll be there.” He staggered in the direction of Adrien’s door.

“Might want to get rid of the Spidey suit before going out there,” Adrien reminded him, although the mental image of Nathalie’s expression were she to find out that Peter was Spiderman was an entertaining one.

“Good point.”

True to his word, Peter was awake and refreshed by the time Adrien had to leave, dressed head to toe in the Agreste fall line.

“You dressed up and everything,” Adrien nodded appreciatively.

“Yeah, well I don’t want to be wearing something gross while surrounded by a bunch of rich people in designer clothes.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow, but chose not to comment. To his knowledge, the only photoshoot Peter had attended was the one where he’d brought Adrien food, and even then he’d only seen the inside of Adrien’s dressing room. Adrien himself was dressed in a simple hoodie and jeans. After all, he’d be stripped out of whatever he was wearing within the first few minutes on set.

And so the duo made their way to the Agreste winter line shoot. Agreste shoots were quite possibly Adrien’s least favourite thing on planet Earth, behinds akumas and the Papillon, of course. Any attention he might have received on a set was amplified by ten since he was the owner’s son; everyone fawned over him like a golden calf. All while expecting nothing but the best from him.

“I called Felix,” Peter said as he held open the door to the studio for Adrien.

“And?”

“He said he would rather eat marbles than go to New York. He’ll be there.”

“That doesn’t sound like-”

“Adrien Agreste!” Adrien’s sentence was instantly cut off by the head fashion photographer of his father’s company, Albert Serres. Great. Albert was the _strictest_ of all the photographers he’d worked with over the years. Granted, the guy had an artistic vision and churned out some of the best shoots the fashion world had ever seen. But he was a pain in the ass to work with.

“Albert! Hi,” Adrien laughed awkwardly. Albert gripped his arms, inspecting his canvas, turning Adrien’s head to inspect his jawline.

“And you’ve brought fresh meat!” Albert exclaimed, eyes landing on Peter.

“Oh no, he’s not-”

“Take your shirt off,” Albert demanded. Peter glanced at Adrien, who shrugged, uncertain of what to do.

“Okay.” Peter shredded his shirt, displaying his muscles for Albert’s inspection. Being Spiderman had done Peter well. His muscles were highly unlike any normal teenager’s, as his were well defined and prominent, testimony to all his crime fighting and physical endurance.

“Where do you find these models, Adrien? This young man looks like he was carved out of marble! If we crop out the face, perhaps obscure it with props, go for a more abstract look…” Albert grabbed a random bunch of flowers, holding it up to cover Peter’s face. “I love it! The fashion magazines will eat him up!”

“Sorry, did I just get hired for my body alone?” Peter looked between Albert and Adrien, a bewildered expression on his face.

“I guess so,” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck as Albert ran off, yelling instructions to people to get Peter’s measurements. “If you want to leave, that’s totally fine. I didn’t mean for you to be part of the photoshoot too.”

“Nah, I think it’s time for me to walk a mile in your Agreste brand shoes.” Peter presented himself to a lady with a tape measure who promptly pulled down his pants and began her measurements.

“Are those…ninja turtle boxers?” Adrien squinted, attempting to make out the design.

“They’re actually the Hulk. I get a discount.”

“Does that mean you have Iron Man ones too? Wouldn’t that be weird, having like, your surrogate dad’s face on your ass?”

“Actually, the Iron Man ones just have one big face right on top of my-”

“Dressing room three,” an assistant instructed Adrien, steering him away from Peter who was still being thoroughly violated by a tape measure.

To make matters worse, they were on separate sets, so for the next five hours Adrien posed under mood lighting all the while wondering how Peter was holding up. In fact, he didn’t so much as glimpse Peter until the end.

“For a fashion line, you’d think they’d make me wear more clothes.” He looked like he’d been rubbed in a glittery oil from head to toe.

“What did you wind up modelling?” Adrien adjusted the cuff links of his suit. He’d been put through everything from suits to pyjamas, as well as a full cover shoot. Needless to say, he was beginning to wonder if he could get chafing from changing clothes so much.

“Underwear.” Peter frowned. “And probably something else. They made me sit in this glowing pool, it was literally so weird. I don’t think they’re really keeping my face in it, though.”

“Do you want your face in them?”

“Depends on if I look hot or not.”

Adrien laughed. “Let’s change and get out of here. We’ve got a patrol tonight.”

“First time seeing Ladybug after your lover’s quarrel,” Peter reminded him. “Luckily I’ll be there to smooth everything over when you inevitably make a stupid joke that misses its target.” He slipped a silver chain with a solid silver spider pendant around his neck, the spider coming to rest mid-chest.

“Is that…?” Adrien’s eyes went wide as Peter pulled a shirt on. And with Peter’s quick nod of confirmation, Adrien’s mind was officially blown. The Spiderman suit was right in front of him and had been all this time, hanging around Peter’s neck.

He considered the Spidey suit to be the best of all Iron Man’s creations (and opinion he’d formed after befriending Spiderman, but a valid one nonetheless) and his best friend was just walking around with something so valuable on his person at all times. At any given moment, he could just turn into the masked hero on the spot.

“Could I, you know, try it on sometime?” Adrien asked as they headed out the door. Peter cast him an odd look.

“I’m not sure if that would even work. Mr. Stark’s put a lot of security mechanisms in it, and it’s voice activated so there’s always a slight chance that it will just taser you if you try and put it on.”

“Damn it.” Adrien frowned, scrapping his mental montage of him in the Spidey suit, swinging through Paris and just generally impressing Ladybug, his mind supplying him instead with the image of him on the ground after being tased, electricity coursing up his body. He shivered slightly as he got into the car that was waiting for them.

“Don’t act like you’d actually wear anything besides leather,” Peter snorted, a finger idly playing with his chain.

“How many times do I have to tell you, that wasn’t a conscious choice!”

“Well, it’s become your modus operandi.”

“For a genius, you barely make sense.”

As soon as they reached home, the two boys ran upstairs to Adrien’s room, excited to suit up and head out for the night. Adrien was just excited to see Peter suit up in front of him. Sure, he’d seen it once before but at the time he’d been a little more concerned about not dying to fully appreciate it.

“This feels weirdly invasive,” Peter commented as Adrien waved a hand at him, impatient to see the advanced tech work its magic.

“You just modelled underwear.”

“Yeah, but you’re looking at me like you expect me to do a flip or something.”

“Would it help if I transformed first?” Adrien shook his hoodie, causing Plagg to fly out. “We’re transforming.”

Plagg gave him a sarcastically interested look. “Oh, we are, are we?”

“We’ve got an audience!” Adrien hissed, looking pointedly at Peter, then at his kwami. Now was not the time for another one of Plagg’s stubborn spells..

“Oh hello,” Plagg zoomed over to Peter. “You’re Peter. I like you.”

“Hello little god,” Peter beamed at him. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“ _Notice,_ ” Plagg drawled, turning back to Adrien. “How he didn’t think I was a genie from a lamp.”

“He also already knows what a kwami is. That’s an unfair advantage. Just get in the ring.” Adrien pouted, thrusting his hand in the troublemaker’s direction. Thankfully, Plagg finally listened to his chosen’s wishes, transforming him. The vibes had already been ruined, however.

“Is he always like that?” Peter laughed.

“Unfortunately.” Adrien scowled, tail swishing behind him. “Your turn.”

Peter just gave him a cocky grin as the familiar suit started covering up his chest, swallowing his shirt within the tiny threads of the suit that spread outwards. The whole transformation only took a few seconds but Adrien watched, transfixed, determined to make it last as long as possible.

“Cool, no?” Spiderman spread his fingers wide, flexing his large eyes.

“So freaking cool.” Adrien couldn’t stop himself from staring as Spidey nimbly leapt up to the windowsill, peering out at the night skyline. He followed his (super cool) friend out into the cool air, watching the hero’s practiced swings from his webs as they made their way to the usual meeting spot.

Ladybug raised a suspicious eyebrow when the two of them showed up at the same time, Adrien still smiling like an idiot.

“My Lady,” he bowed slightly, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.

“Are you two good now?” She looked between him and Spiderman, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her lips. God, Adrien wanted nothing more than to kiss her right now.

“The best,” Spiderman answered for him after a moment of awkward silence in which Adrien simply stared at Ladybug. He was doing a lot of gazing that night. “Thanks for being so understanding, petite bête.”

Adrien watched Ladybug consider this new nickname as she squinted her eyes, tilting her head slightly. “Maybe work on that one,” she decided. 

“Damn, I thought I’d nailed that.” Spiderman shook his head, wrapping a web around his wrist. “Patrol time?”

“You go ahead, Spidey, I’ll be there in a moment.” Finally, Adrien had remembered to speak. Spiderman shot him a wink and finger guns before running off.

“Now why on earth would you want us to be alone? Something tricky up your sleeve, chaton?” Ladybug smirked, stepping closer to him, resting a single hand on his chest.

“Because I was a jerk boyfriend,” Adrien said honestly, placing his hand atop hers. “You’ve never been anything but understanding with me and I went ahead and completely steamrolled everything.”

“Chat, it’s fine. I swear, I’m not mad.”

“But you weren’t responding earlier?”

“I’m sorry, I was busy.” She slid an arm around him, hooking a finger beneath his belt and pulling him closer. Adrien let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. Hearing her say that was a bigger relief than he’d ever admit.

“Have I ever told you how in love I am with you?” Adrien cupped her face, kissing his Lady like she was the only thing that mattered in life. And in many ways she was, at least to him.

“Everyone good now?” Spiderman landed close, way closer than he needed to be, and Adrien pulled away from Ladybug to glare at him. Of course he was there to interrupt.

“Don’t give me that look, it’s tradition for me to cockblock you both.” Adrien couldn’t see Peter’s face but he _knew_ the boy was wearing a shit-eating grin.

“I hate you,” Adrien declared, rolling his eyes as he turned back to Ladybug. “I think he’s a big boy, don’t you?”

Ladybug giggled. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“He can handle a little PDA.” Adrien lowered his mouth to hers once more, taking his sweet time with the kiss, fingers rubbing circles against Ladybug’s jaw.

“I can’t, actually, I’m notoriously childish,” Spiderman called.

Adrien sighed, lightly catching Ladybug’s bottom lip between his teeth before pulling away. She was sweet, like a special candy designed specially for him. He would’ve been content just to gaze at her for the rest of the night, but there was the pressing vibe-killer that was Spiderman currently making retching noises.

Honestly, how had he ever seen that boy as a mentor? Now that he knew it was Peter, Spiderman’s joking nature was showing through more than ever. Sure, Spidey had his gems, but he also had just as many coal moments as any normal person. And this was currently one of those moments where Adrien would like nothing more than to see how far he could kick a human being.

“Chat, you look like you’re about to kill something,” Ladybug laughed, spinning her yoyo.

“Or someone,” Adrien growled under his breath. He wasn’t _actually_ mad, just slightly annoyed, perhaps a bit more than slightly. Spiderman, however, was jumping around like a kid at Christmas.

“I finished patrol, by the way,” Spidey said, far more gleefully than Adrien would’ve liked.

“That was fast, even for you.” Ladybug turned to him, folding her arms over her chest. “You know we could be attacked at any moment.”

“Please, Mademoiselle Bug, I have faith that no harm will come to us tonight. It’s a night off and I think we’ve earned it.” It seemed as thought Peter was physically incapable of standing still. Constantly in motion, he seemed to move to a sort of a rhythm, whether it be kicking rocks, tapping his fingers or shifting his weight from side to side.

“Mademoiselle Bug? Why so formal?” Adrien asked, his smile returning. Spiderman simply shrugged.

“She shot down petite bête and I can’t think of anything good. My next thought was La Dame Rouge, but that sounds like….”

“Like a stripper name, yeah,” Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Just call me Ladybug, please.”

“No! I’m determined to come up with the perfect nickname for you. Ladybug is a mouthful.”

“So far every single nickname you’ve come up with has been more syllables than Ladybug,” Adrien pointed out. Spiderman glared at him.

“It’s the principle of the thing.”

“Wow, Chat, I wasn’t aware you even knew what a syllable is.” Ladybug was peering at him, almost mockingly. Now that wouldn’t do.

“Does My Lady take me as uneducated?” Adrien retorted, eyes glinting.

“To be entirely honest, I’m not convinced you don’t live in an alley somewhere, matou.”

“You wound me.” Adrien pressed a dramatic hand to his chest, glancing at Spidey, who was surveying the scene with a look of amusement. At least, Adrien thought it was amusement. It was rather difficult to tell. “I’ll have you know I can speak three languages.”

“I don’t believe you,” Ladybug challenged. Adrien straightened up, cleared his throat, conjuring up an English phrase in his mind. Unfortunately, only one came to mind, and he barely thought twice before letting his mouth spew it out.

“You can’t beat this dead horse!”

Spiderman let out what could only be described as a guffaw, clutching his stomach as he rolled onto the rooftop, laughing his head off.

“What does that mean?” Ladybug glanced at Spiderman, then back at him, entirely confused.

“It means he likes my shirt,” a breathless Spidey supplied. If Ladybug had been able to speak English that would’ve been a dead giveaway of Spiderman’s true identity, but lucky for him Ladybug was adorably confused.

“Shut up,” Adrien grumbled. “But I’m actually a well-educated boy, despite whatever preconceptions you have.” He puffed out his chest for emphasis.

“Really?” Ladybug still didn’t appear to believe him.

“I’ve read all Shakespeare’s works.” It was a true fact. His father had forced him to read lots of classics, all of which he hated and retained absolutely nothing of. They were _boring,_ especially compared to his favourite comic books.

“Yeah, well that’s just a normal thing,” Spiderman said, rising slowly, still wheezing slightly. “Everyone’s read Shakespeare.”

“No?” Ladybug frowned. “The only time I’ve read it is in French class.”

“That takes all the fun out of it. You’ve gotta read it on your own time, going completely feral because someone you know quoted it and you felt uneducated when you didn’t understand the reference.”

 _That explains why he knew so much about it during the heist,_ Adrien thought, thinking back to how readily Peter had identified the Shakespearean quote that won him the game.

“I just read them because I’m a man of class,” Adrien lied. He was not the sort, never would be, the type to seek profundity within old writing. The lessons of past didn’t always coincide with the problems of now and he didn’t have time to sit around and draw up the similarities, unlike Peter apparently.

“You’re a liar, Chat.” Spiderman called him out, winking at Ladybug. “Men of class don’t feel it necessary to impress upon others that they are, in fact, men of class.”

“Well what would you know about class?” _Great comeback, Adrien. Care to stick your tongue out too? Perhaps blow him a raspberry while you’re at it?_

“Ladybug, who do you think is classier?”

Adrien knew he’d lost instantly. He wasn’t even surprised to hear Ladybug side with Spidey.

“You wound me, My Lady. Either way, I am amongst the highly educated. Top of my class.” That was true. Adrien’s homeschooling had been far more rigorous than his public schooling. While he may not be on Peter’s level, Adrien was still a solid year ahead in most of his studies.

“I must agree, Chat does have his intelligent moments from time to time,” Spidey shrugged.

“Do you two…hang out?” Ladybug looked between them, expression incredulous.

“No, I don’t even know this man.” Spidey glanced at him.

“Yeah, who even are you?” Adrien retorted, doing his best to deadpan it, but the second Spiderman laughed, it was over for him.

“I feel like I’m missing something completely,” Ladybug interjected.

“It’s probably for the best.” Spiderman cleared his throat. “Chat just has this incredible inability to act like a normal person for two seconds, I think it’s the cat in him-”

“Hey!” Proving Spidey’s point exactly, Chat leapt at him. Naturally, Spiderman retaliated by quickly tying him up in a web, leaving Adrien to hang upside down from a chimney.

“I think now is a good time for me to call it a night.” Spiderman pretended to dust his hands off, admiring his handiwork. “See you guys later!” And with an evil laugh he raced off, leaping into the night.

“This is animal abuse!” Adrien called after him, just knowing that Peter would be snickering to himself the whole way down.

“You look cute like this.” Ladybug lightly tapped the tip of his nose, eyes sparkling with amusement. Adrien swung forwards slightly, pretending to try and bite her. God, he really was a cat boy after all. How embarrassing.

“Are you going to let me down?” It was difficult to give someone kitten eyes while hanging upside down but Adrien was nothing if not persistent.

“Oh chaton, I have no idea how that would work. You’ll have to cataclysm your way out.”

“Damn it.” He flexed his hand, readying himself to activate his powers.

“Before you do,” Ladybug paused him, “there’s something I want to try.” She sounded almost…shy?

“Oh?” He cocked an eyebrow as Ladybug approached him, gently cupping the sides of his face, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. His eyes fluttered shut of their own accord, allowing him to enjoy the moment, so tender and gentle, alone under the moonlight with his Lady. She had a way of bending time and space when she kissed him, so that the only thing that ever existed was her and all that she was. The world meant nothing when Ladybug, the girl of his dreams, was right there and more real than ever.

“I’m so in love with you,” he breathed when she pulled away, eyelashes fluttering. At his blatant declaration, she blushed.

“I don’t entirely understand why.”

“I always have, always will.” He gave her a benign smile. “In the sun and in the rain, in the day and night. I would love you whether you gave me the worst of you or the best. Even if it was you and me against the world. Life isn’t paradise, far from it, but you, My Lady, are the sunshine on my worst days.”

“A poet to rival that Shakespeare guy,” Ladybug whispered, a hand running through his hair. “That’s…very sweet, Chat.”

“I meant every word and I’d say more but I think I’m going to pass out if I keep hanging like this. Cataclysm!” Chat Noir’s destructive power raced through him, disintegrating the webs that bound him and allowing him to climb down, the world spinning slightly before his eyes,

“I guess this is goodnight, then.” Ladybug readied her yoyo but Adrien reached out, capturing her hand.

“It doesn’t have to be.” He looked at her, pleading. There was nothing more he wanted than to do away with all the secret identity bullshit. Spiderman’s reveal had gone off without a hitch, and Adrien saw no reason as to why his and Ladybug’s couldn’t be the same.

“Yes, Chat, yes it does.” Ladybug’s expression hardened into a sort of finality. “I don’t know what you’ve got going on with Spiderman concerning your identities, but that’s too dangerous for us.”

Adrien’s miraculous beeped and he sighed in resignation. “I can’t wait for this to all be over, My Lady, so I can love you in every form of your being.” He gave her another smile, this one sad, and twirled his baton above his hand. “But for now, I’ll bid you a goodnight.”

“Goodnight, minou.”

“Goodnight Buginette.”

Adrien just managed to make it back in through his window before his transformation dropped, Plagg zooming off in search of Camembert. Peter was perched on the balcony that wrapped half of Adrien’s room, his expression vacant as he stared out at the stars.

“Stargazing? Or thinking?” Adrien climbed up the stairs, joining Peter on the second level.

Peter’s gaze never moved from the night sky. “There’s a storm coming. I can feel it.”

“Like…a storm storm or a _storm_ storm?”

“Even the tides change four times a day,” Peter offered cryptically. “My spider senses have been more active than usual. They warn me about danger, but lately it’s been a constant buzzing in the back of my mind. Maybe going to New York for thanksgiving will do me some good.”

“We’re in danger?”

“You more than me, I fear.” He flipped into the air, landing on the floor below them effortlessly, feet barely making a sound as he touched down. “Sometimes I wonder if I was right to come here.”

“Of course you were!” Adrien hurried back down his stairs to join Peter once more. “I can’t imagine life without you now. You’ve helped us out so much.”

“This far, yes. What is coming; follows.”

“Huh?” Adrien hated it when Peter said went into his mind like this. When his usually animated thought process went internal, Adrien struggled to understand what the boy was talking about.

“Whatever is happening in the future is a product of every move I make right now. What I choose to do in these next few weeks sets the stage for what is to come. And I can’t afford a misstep. I’ll only learn if I made a mistake once it’s too late.”

He looked at Adrien, his dark eyes reflecting the night sky, voice dropping to a few octaves with his next sentence.

“Whatever happens will happen and I’ll deal with the consequences. I’m done running.”

* * *

Marinette did not stop blushing all the way home, the memory of Chat’s words still fresh in her mind.

‘ _You, My Lady, are the sunshine on my worst days.’ ‘I can’t wait for this to all be over, My Lady, so I can love you in every form of your being.’_ The sincerity with which he’d said everything had warmed her from the inside out. How could he be so genuine, so helplessly in love with her, despite all that she was?

“Do you think he could ever love me as Marinette?” She asked Tikki after a shower, wringing her hair out as her kwami considered her response.

“I have no doubt about it. But either way, it will be a different kind of love. A more mature one, more human less fantasy.”

“Ugh.” Marinette tossed her towel aside. “Is it selfish of me to just want to remain anonymous forever? No matter who Chat turns out to be, he’ll still be Chat, but I know that things will change. A personality like his can’t be hidden, I know he’s probably like that in real life, but I’m the furthest thing from Ladybug a person can be.”

“You can’t be different from Ladybug, you _are_ Ladybug!”

Marinette shook her head. Tikki didn’t get it. In Chat’s eyes, she was a goddess, incapable of doing any wrong. However, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a certified class A fuck-up with a black belt in awkward. Chat Noir deserved someone as amazing as Ladybug all the time and until Marinette got over her own insecurities, that wouldn’t be happening.

For starters, Chat was gorgeous (the admission annoyed her, although she’d always known he was attractive) and while she didn’t consider herself to be bad looking, per say, it wasn’t much to write home about. Like any other girl, she had stretch marks, acne scars, little parts of herself that weren’t very superhero-like of her. Marinette may not know Chat’s true identity, but she knew enough to know that he was strikingly handsome underneath the mask. His bone structure alone was the sort of thing people wrote poetry about. Let alone his bright eyes, silky hair, and toned body. And somehow she’d managed to trick him into thinking he was in love with her.

To think those thoughts aloud in her head was a strange experience. Something had been bugging her for some time, and perhaps this was it. That nagging feeling that she wasn’t good enough for her amazing superhero boyfriend because she couldn’t be an amazing superhero girlfriend all the time. It was unfair and she hated it.

She wanted to talk to someone, someone who would get it. But it was late and she was tired and almost certain that Spiderman wouldn’t be willing to come talk to her. It was at times like these she felt bad about pushing him into the role of her personal therapist but at the same time his unwavering acumen made him all too easy to talk to.

Yet she could imagine what he’d say. He’d tell her it was normal to feel like she had to live up to the expectation the other half of her set. He’d reassure her by telling her he felt the same way sometimes and she’d wonder what the boy underneath the mask could possibly have to be insecure about.

Maybe it wasn’t the same, to have a mental projection of him, but at the same time the Spiderman in her head’s words assured her, allowing her to drift off to sleep.

Her subconscious picked up on her agitated state, warping her dreams to become stranger than usual. Curiously enough, the only face that stood out to her was Peter’s or rather, Helios. The premise of her dream was lost, and all she knew was that wherever she was didn’t have very good lighting. It was almost entirely dark, the only light in the room coming off Helios.

He was upset about something, but she didn’t know what. His mouth was open in a silent scream, his eyes burning with a fury she’d never imagined he could possibly feel. As she watched, fire raced over his limbs, his eyes igniting. Everything was moving in slow motion and she knew if she turned her head, she would see what had pushed him past his breaking point. But she couldn’t bring herself to. If it had broken Peter, it would surely demolish her. Everything was getting brighter as Peter’s power mounted, his eyes turning from a subtle blaze to a supernova, washing out her fuzzy surroundings further.

And when it was so bright she could no longer see, she awoke, panting from fear, her heart threatening to beat out of her chest.

Because it was fear she felt. Peter in that dream had been the furthest from the cheerful boy she’d come to adore. That Peter was powerful beyond belief and _angry_. So angry. There wasn’t quite words to describe how the dream had made her feel. It was different than a nightmare in the sense that it felt so _real_. The heat that had come off him in rolling waves had felt real. The light that was burned into the back of her retinas had followed her in the form of photo-bleaching when she’d opened her eyes, casting black spots across her vision.

“Tikki?” Marinette sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Precisely how powerful is Helios?”

Tikki stretched, hovering off her pillow. “You’re up before your alarm,” she observed.

“Could Helios destroy the world? Like if he was bad, could he hypothetically completely wipe out humanity?”

“Yes,” Tikki said honestly. “If it weren’t for that gem on the front of his chest, Helios would be able to create a mass inferno that could, hypothetically, completely wipe out humanity. But he can’t. The gem in his chest is necessary for him to be able to control the phoenix’s power. Without it he would burn up the second he tried to use the power.”

“But let’s say for a second that Helios isn’t a normal human. What if someone other than Peter Parker were to wield it. What if someone like Spiderman could use it? He’s already got super strength and mutilated DNA, so would removing the gem kill him too?”

“We’re dealing with a lot of hypothetical here.” Tikki frowned. “I can’t really say. The extent of the phoenix’s powers has been kept secret for most of history. That kind of power tends to attract an unwanted attention. But we can’t test that theory, since, for all intensive purposes, Spiderman cannot wield the phoenix miraculous.”

“You’re right,” Marinette sighed. “I just had a dream that kind of…freaked me out to say the least.”

“The miraculous is out of our hands now. No matter who becomes the next guardian, whether it be you or someone else, the phoenix miraculous should never be one of their responsibilities. It was not meant to work in harmony with our kind, always meant to be more independent than the rest of the miraculous team.”

“Why does Helios fight by our side, then?”

“Because you asked him to. Would you rather Peter joined the other side?”

The memory of Peter’s glowing eyes flashed through her brain, only that wasn’t from her dream. It was of him, in the street, aura of pure fire surrounding him. One of the dangers of his power was that he could potentially be turned bad, as Master Fu had warned her initially. Could that happen to Peter? Was that what her dream had been trying to tell her?

“I can tell you’re overthinking it,” Tikki interjected, drawing her attention away. “You can’t see the future, Marinette, nor can you tell what people will become in the future. There’s always the possibility Helios could become the villain, but everyone has that potential. Don’t discredit the good he’s done because you think there’s a part of him that could turn bad.”

Marinette buzzed her lips together, letting out a sound like a dissatisfied horse while she ran a hand through her hair. “I should just go to school, see Peter again, and get over this random fear I’ve developed of him. He’s not scary, he’s like the least threatening person I’ve ever met.”

“Precisely! Plus, you said you made that thing for him!”

She grinned at Tikki’s vague knowledge of all her fashion terms. “It’s a winter down jacket. Paris gets colder in the winter, and I thought he could use something of the sort. I don’t think he even has a raincoat. Every time it’s raining and I see him, he’s completely soaked through.”

Placing the giant puffer jacket in a plastic bag, Marinette ran through her mental checklist for the morning. All her homework was done, she was up early for once, it all seemed to be on track for a good day.

For once in her life, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was at school sixteen minutes before the bell, clutching Peter’s present in her arms. Peter and Adrien were already there, seemingly talking to…Adrien’s chest? Or maybe they were talking to each other while inspecting something inside Adrien’s jacket? Either way, it was an odd sight to behold.

Peter, always attentive, glanced up as she neared. “Hey Marinette! You’re early today!”

“Uhh yeah! I just woke up earlier than usual today! Meaning I had time to finally remember to give you this!” She thrust the bag into his arms, avoiding his curious gaze.

“Gee, thanks Mari!” Peter pulled the jacket out, inspecting her craftsmanship.

“Some of the stitching might be a little weird, I’ve never actually made like, a proper jacket before, but it seemed like something you’d like and I know puffy jackets can be _ridiculously_ expensive and it seems really impersonal because there’s not really a design on it but-”

Peter cut her off by wrapping her in a hug. “It’s so perfect, thank you.”

“That’s really amazing handiwork,” Adrien commented, eyes tracing the seams as Peter pulled the jacket on.

“Comfy.” Peter retracted his arms from his sleeves and sat down promptly, tucking his knees under the massive jacket, the bottom half of his face disappearing inside the jacket. Adrien laughed, flicking the hood up and hiding the boy from view entirely. Now he was just a jacket on the ground, sitting upright.

“What is going on here?” Alya and Nino joined them, both glancing at Peter’s self made cocoon.

“Marinette made me a jacket,” came Peter’s voice.

“And your first instinct was to hide in it?” Alya bent down slightly.

“Yeah,” Peter raised his head slightly, bringing his shiny eyes into view of the small crack between the top of the neckline and the end of the hood. “Pretty much.”

He stood up, rearranging himself and pushing his hood back. How had Marinette even managed to be afraid of this boy, even for a second?

“Parker.” And just like that, Marinette’s morning begun its descent. Chloé was marching in their direction, her eyes fixed on Peter.

“Sunshine,” Peter cocked an eyebrow, grin never faltering as she neared their group.

“I need to talk to you,” Chloé hissed, narrowing her eyes as her gaze roamed around the group, ponytail whipping as she turned her head.

“What’s the magic word?”

Chloé rolled her eyes, voice barely above a whisper as she practically mouthed, “please.”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you!” Peter gleefully waved a hand at her. “What was that?”

“For the love of god, Peter Parker, you’re the most incompetent imbecile I ever-”

“I don’t hear you saying itttttttt.”

“Fine! Please!” Chloé stomped her foot. Peter was grinning ear to ear as he followed her away from the group, casting a look back at Adrien that seemed to say ‘ _fuck man, I don’t know_ ’.

“That was…” Marinette said, uncertain how to finish the sentence as she watched Peter and Chloé’s retreating backs.

“Bizarre?” Offered Adrien.

“I was thinking more along the lines of fucking weird as hell,” Alya said. “But that’s a bit more proper, I guess.”

“Glad one of us has a slight sense of decency,” Nino mumbled, the end of his sentence being cut off by the bell.

“Let’s see if they make it back on time,” Marinette whispered to Alya as they headed up the stairs. The duo were nowhere in sight and she couldn’t help but wonder what on earth Chloé had needed to talk to Peter about so badly that she was willing to openly approach him.

But when they got to class, both Peter and Chloé were sitting in their respective seats, paying no mind to one another.

Adrien leaned down to say something close to Peter’s ear but Peter waved him off, turning on his tablet and tapping something on the screen. Marinette was only a semi-nosy person by nature, but for some reason she felt personally invested in whatever was going on between her arch-nemesis (besides the Papillon) and her foreign friend.

Luckily, before she could dwell on where Peter and Chloé’s relationship might stand, the screams of people in the streets reached her ears. Just what she needed, a good old-fashioned akuma battle. It was the cherry on top.

* * *

The next few weeks were bland and uninteresting in Peter’s eyes, which was why he was so excited on the day before the fourth Thursday of November. Within a matter of hours, they would be on a plane and en route to New York.

Within a matter of hours, he’d be home.

Adrien had managed to convince his father to let him go by promising to do modelling work for Chloé’s mother and her magazine, _Style Queen,_ while he was there. And Peter had managed to account for both Spiderman and Chat Noir’s disappearance to Ladybug by telling her that he (Spiderman) was accompanying Peter Parker on his trip back home to do some suit renovations. He’d also told her that Chat Noir was visiting family in England for a few days and would not be around for patrol.

Akumas wouldn’t be a problem. Ladybug was strong and capable of protecting Paris without them. Within the past few weeks, there’d been plenty an akuma here and there, but none of them had been challenging. It was like the Papillon had relented ever so slightly. Perhaps he’d actually taken Peter’s words to heart.

“Peter! Felix is here!” Adrien called from the front entry. Showtime.

Peter flipped nimbly across his bedroom before landing lightly and walking out into the hall. Felix’s blond head was visible in the front doorway, in conversation with his cousin. This was really happening, really coming together.

“Felix!” Peter raced down the stairs, smiling brightly at the Brit.

“Peter,” Felix replied in his usual blank manner.

“Now that you’re here, we’re ready to go! Adrien, go get your suitcase!”

Peter wasted no time in enthusiastically loading everyone’s luggage into the back of Adrien’s car. The Gorilla was to drive them to the airport where Tony Stark’s jet would be waiting for them (if all went well) where they would then fly straight to the Avengers headquarters, land, then be driven to Peter’s apartment. The whole prospect was so exciting, he was practically vibrating as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Floor it!” He said to the Gorilla. The Gorilla did not, in fact, floor it, but he did drive both carefully and responsibly which was probably for the best.

“So, Felix, what have you been up to?” Adrien braved, breaking the silence.

“You know, the usual. Causing problems on purpose,” Felix deadpanned.

“Did you watch the new season of the Mandalorian yet?” Peter asked. He’d been placed in the front seat and had to swivel around to look at his friends but figured a slight neck cramp was worth it.

“Yes, obviously,” Felix said.

“The what?” Adrien frowned, clearly lost. The poor boy, Peter had yet to find the time to educate him on Star Wars. Maybe they could have a marathon while they were in New York.

“Okay, no spoilers because I haven’t gotten to see _any_ of it yet,” Peter lamented. “I’ve been so busy doing stupid _school_ work. Get this; the principal found out that I’m technically academically ‘gifted’ and he’s been assigning me so much extra work. It’s not even harder! There’s just more of it.”

“Peter is doing particle physics,” Adrien sighed.

“Boring,” Felix said. “Couldn’t they give you something interesting?”

“I know, right! My entry assignment was literally on quantum physics. They could _at least_ try and have me prove the existence of a multiverse.”

“You know, before you showed up, I was technically considered smart,” Adrien chimed in once again.

“They didn’t know what they were missing.” Peter fiddled with his anklet, adjusting it slightly. Suluu was fast asleep in his suitcase, having consumed copious amounts of straight cinnamon mixed with boiling water before they departed. Cinnamon seemed to be her favourite spice, but anything hot would do in a pinch. And now she would be well rested by the time they got off and returned to his apartment. Hopefully that would put her in a far less swear-y mood. It had been awkward on his last visit when he’d tried to tell Aunt May that there was no way Suluu had learned that kind of language from him.

It hadn’t gone well.

Peter directed the Gorilla to steer them away from the regular entrance to the airport, instead driving towards a security check-in point. Tony Stark’s jet wouldn’t be stored near the other planes, given how the plane probably cost more than all the other airplanes and airport combined, but it also needed special security clearance to get them to it.

“Peter Parker,” Peter said to the security guard, producing his written documentation Tony had sent over a week prior, stating that Peter had full use of his jet. A few full body scans later, Peter was allowed to continue on his merry way and direct the Gorilla down the runway.

As the jet came into sight, Peter heard twin gasps from both Adrien and Felix (although Felix would sooner say there was a leaky tire than admit the sound came from him). It was a gorgeous sight, Peter had to admit. The sunlight was reflecting just right off its sleek surface, welcoming the boys to a new adventure they could share together.

It didn’t take long for them to load everything up and bid the Gorilla goodbye. As Peter had suspected, the plane was self-flying, leaving the boys entirely on their own.

“Whoa!” Adrien was openly marvelling over the plush seats and shiny tables. “This is even better than my father’s plane!” Felix just sniffed before sitting down in one of the seats.

The plane began to rumble beneath them as the engine started up, preparing for takeoff, so Peter took his seat, drinking in his friends’ reactions, making sure they were enjoying it as much as he was.

There was a magazine sitting on the seat next to him and Peter frowned, picking it up. Tony had left a small sticky note on the front in his usual messy scrawl:

_Not sure if you’ve seen this yet. Might order a few of the prints for Avengers tower. Never knew you had such a knack for modelling._

Oh no. Peter’s eyes slid from the note up to the title of the magazine. It wasn’t a magazine at all. It was a fashion catalogue. Specifically, an Agreste brand winter edition fashion catalogue.

“Adrien? They actually printed these photos?” Peter flipped through, somehow marginally shocked to see his own abs in the underwear category. Throughout the entire photoshoot, he hadn’t really been under the impression that they’d actually print them. Thank god his face wasn’t-

Nope, he’d spoken too soon. No sooner had he flipped the page before he was greeted with his own face looking up at him, exuding a far more confident vibe than Peter actually felt on a day to day basis. The only reason he’d managed such a smoulder on set was because, quite frankly, he’d been taking it all with the world’s smallest grain of salt. Now his face and name were tied to the fashion world in possibly the worst way possible.

Although the photos of him in the pool were admittedly pretty cool. Would it be considered vain to order images of himself?

“Why on earth are you in these magazines?” Apparently there were multiple copies of the catalogue on the plane and Felix had found one, holding up another photo of Peter, just in case he’d somehow missed it.

“I’m actually a world renowned model, Felix.”

“These spreads aren’t supposed to be released for another week,” Adrien turned another copy over in his hands as they took off. “How’d he get these? My dad’s security system is one of the best in the world.”

“Yeah, Mr. Stark kinda likes to have access to everything.” Peter continued to ogle himself as he flipped through. Adrien was the cover boy, obviously, but Peter was quite honestly impressed with how many of the shots had made it in.

In an attempt to distract his friends, Peter grabbed a remote, pressing a button that caused a flat screen TV to descend from the ceiling. That successfully deterred them from any further commentary as he put on a random action movie.

The flight was only six hours, shaving two hours off the usual Paris to New York flight times. That was one of the perks of being in Tony Stark’s jet. So the time in New York was the exact same as it had been when they left France; four in the afternoon.

They’d bypassed the airport entirely, touching down on the landing pad atop the Avengers facility. The roof opened up, swallowing the plane and bringing them within the building.

“Dude, are we in the same building as Captain America right now?” Adrien asked, doing his best to peer out the windows as they came to a stop. An airplane hanger was the only view, no Avengers greeting party or anything. Not that Peter had been expecting one. He hadn’t really spoken to Cap since the time he stole his shield then got his ass handed to him later on.

“Presumably,” Peter said, distributing their luggage to their respective persons. “Although now that I think about it, he might be in Scotland right now.”

“Sick!”

Felix was more of the silently appreciative sort but Peter watched his eyes grow slightly larger as they stepped off the plane. The large windows along the front of the hanger offered a view of the training grounds, where Falcon and Ant-Man seemed to be engaged in some sort of practice. As far as Peter was aware, Sam had yet to actually beat Scott. The little dude seemed to beat out the wing suit almost every time.

“Let’s go, guys. I could only get clearance for those two to be on the property for ten minutes, max.” Happy, always the cheerful one, stepped out of the elevator at the far end of the hanger, pointing between Adrien and Felix.

“Happy, no one’s going to notice if they’re here for like, two minutes extra. If I just say they’re with me, don’t they get unlimited access?” Nonetheless, Peter lead their little party in the direction of the elevator.

“I purposefully registered them as third party visitors to get them out of here as soon as possible.”

“Adrien, Felix, this is Happy, Mr. Stark’s head of security,” Peter sighed, gesturing vaguely in Happy’s direction.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Adrien said brightly. Felix just nodded.

“I’m only here because it’s my job.” Happy was just as hospitable as ever.

“Is Mr. Stark here?” Peter had been hoping it would be Tony who welcomed them off the plane, but as long as he showed up to thanksgiving dinner, Peter would settle for Happy.

“You think I know where he is every second of every day?”

“Isn’t that your job?” Felix asked. Happy frowned at him.

“I thought you only spoke French.”

“Felix lives in London,” Peter explained. “Adrien is the one who I live with in Paris, but he’s a supermodel who travels all over the globe so he’s picked up English.”

“What is with Americans and assuming all the time?” Felix grumbled, in French. “I don’t even _look_ French.”

“Felix, you and Adrien are practically twins. I don’t know what ‘French’ looks like to you, but honestly that’s a mistake anyone could make. I told Happy one of you was French and since Adrien spoke to him in English, by process of elimination, he probably deduced that you were the French one. It’s not an unreasonable conclusion.” Peter responded in effortless French and Happy looked at him like he’d grown another head.

“What are you telling him? I heard my name!”

“I’m telling him how much work you do for Stark Industries. He has a newfound respect for you,” Peter lied, shooting Felix a warning glance.

The elevator opened up on the ground floor and they filed out, headed straight for the front entrance.

“That dude just went straight through a wall!” Adrien called, pointing down a separate hallway.

“Oh, Vision, yeah, he doesn’t really grasp the whole ‘aesthetic’ concept so he just tends to ignore the walls and doors in general,” Peter said casually, holding open the door to allow his friends to walk through.

“We don’t have all day. I’ve got plans this evening.” Happy checked his watch impatiently as the group climbed into the car.

“They haven’t been in New York before, let them marvel for a moment.”

“Are you going to the apartment?” Happy whispered to Peter as they pulled away from the headquarters, headed downstate. Peter glanced at the two boys in the back who were staring out the back windshield, watching the building get smaller and smaller as they drove away.

“Duh, where else would I go?” Peter asked, turning back around to face Happy.

“I don’t know, but aren’t they both rich? Won’t they be a tad bit…underwhelmed?”

“Probably!” Peter’s voiced cracked slightly. “But we’re going to get sandwiches from Mr. Delmar’s sandwich shop for dinner, so that’ll make up for the lack of space. Plus, Felix lives in London! Unless you live in freaking Buckingham Palace, your flat is _tiny_. He’ll be used to it.”

“Yeah but you live in a literal mansion while in Paris, don’t you?”

“Well I don’t see you renting out the Avengers headquarters!”

“Are you at least going to tell them about how rats ride the subway?”

“Yeah, Happy, when I gave them a New York crash course, the first thing I told them was about the rat infestation! _Of course I didn’t mention the rats!_ ”

“Okay, then the pigeons then. Or if not the pigeons, the Santa gang that hangs around Times Square that and mugs people?”

“We’re not going to Times Square!” Peter sighed, rubbing his temples.

“You can’t just not go to Times Square, Peter. You said these kids have never been to New York. They probably dream of going to Times Square!”

“Yo, Felix, Adrien,” Peter turned back around, gripping the headrest, speaking in French so Happy wouldn’t be able to understand him. “If Times Square blew up tomorrow, would either of you be at all sad?”

“Is anyone hurt?” Adrien asked at the same time Felix gave a flat ‘no’.

“Yeah, they don’t care too much,” Peter told Happy.

“Did that kid just ask if Times Square is blessed?” Happy glanced in the rear view mirror at Adrien.

“No, he said ‘blessé’ it means like, injured.”

“Why was he asking if Times Square is injured?”

“You know what, Happy, how about you just focus on driving?” The trip was off to _such_ a great start so far and Happy had _really_ helped Peter welcome his guests to America.

Soon enough, they were outside Peter’s apartment. It was a bit of a struggle to wedge their suitcases up the stairwells but eventually they made it to the front door. They’d bade Happy a goodbye and he’d barely even waited for Felix to finish getting his suitcase out of the trunk before he’d sped off.

Peter knocked, almost hesitantly, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he waited for May to open the door. She’d been alarmingly enthusiastic about having guests, and she really hoped she hadn’t gotten too worked up about it and-

The door flew open, and there was Aunt May, wearing a beret and striped shirt, full baguette in one hand.

“Bonsoir!” 

Oh, so it was going to be one of _those_ kind of visits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone so much for reading! I’m hoping to get out another update at the regular time next week, but my teacher just dropped a MASSIVE project on us so we’ll have to see how that goes before I can make any promises about updating. If not, I might just wait a full week before I post again to try and maintain a regular posting schedule (but I mean I already suck at that so we’ll see)
> 
> Have a great week everyone!!!!!


	15. État d’esprit « New York »

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Adrien/May bonding time, Felix being a general menace to society, and Peter just generally vibing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who’s back? These past two weeks have been CRAZY busy but I managed to find time to get this chapter done on time for today yay! We should be back to regular posting next week and it’ll hopefully be smooth sailings from there :)
> 
> Accompanying comic for this chapter is now done and can be found here: https://pin.it/1hsQ6HV

Adrien didn’t know what to expect, in all honesty, of New York. Peter had bickered with Happy the whole car ride to the apartment (generally not a good sign) and Peter’s aunt had answered the door dressed up in what he had to assume was supposed to be French attire. Despite his initial shock when she all but screamed ‘bonsoir’ upon opening the door, she seemed to be really nice.

“Welcome!” She gripped Felix in a hug, practically smothering him, then moved on to Adrien. Adrien hugged her back, always grateful for whatever physical connections he could get. She smelled like cinnamon, curiously.

She hugged Peter the longest before holding him out in front of her, inspecting him. “What have they been feeding you in France? You look so… full of life.”

“Thanks? I think? Full of bread is more like it.” Peter stepped around her into the apartment. “Were you baking something?” That’s when Adrien realized it wasn’t Ms. Parker that smelled like cinnamon. It was the whole apartment.

“You said it likes cinnamon-” Peter cut her off with a glance, tilting his head pointedly at Adrien and Felix. Adrien wasn’t sure what _that_ was about or what ‘it’ was or what it had to do with cinnamon but he quickly forgot the interaction, instead taking in the sight of the apartment.

There was a little sitting room, a kitchen, a dining room, two bedrooms, and three bathrooms from what Adrien could see. It was the complete opposite from home.

“It’s small, but it’s home,” Peter shrugged, shuffling from one foot to the other. It was small, but Adrien had spent his whole life surrounded by so much space with no one to fill it. This apartment, however, this felt like someone’s home. Photos of Peter lined the bookshelves, including an image of him and Tony Stark, grinning and holding up a Stark Internship certificate for the camera. The chairs were slightly worn from use, and the couch looked cushy. None of the pillows matched. There was no rhyme or reason to the décor and Adrien loved it.

“It’s perfect,” he declared. Peter noticeably relaxed slightly in Adrien’s peripheral vision and he realized for the first time that Peter might be embarrassed of his living state. Sure, it was noticeably smaller than the Agreste mansion but the ambience was already a million times better. Plus, Adrien would never judge someone for how much money they had.

“May, this is Adrien and that’s Felix. Felix is Adrien’s cousin, he lives in England.”

“Thank god you two speak English,” Ms. Parker laughed, gripping Felix in another hug. “I can speak maybe five sentences of Spanish? But my French is honestly atrocious.”

“Thanks for letting us stay with you Ms. Parker,” Adrien said.

“Call me May,” she threw him a wink. “Friends of Peter are always welcome here. Peter, do you want to give them the tour before we go to Mr. Delmars?”

“There’s not much to show,” Peter muttered but lead them along all the same. “This is my room.”

He pushed open the door, revealing a room that was somehow cluttered and near empty at the same time. There was a set of bunk beds, a closet, and a desk with assorted LEGO Star Wars sets strewn across it. Posters advertising various academic events adorned the walls, along with New York Mets banners. Adrien had never considered that Peter watched sports, or maybe he didn’t. Perhaps it was just a sign of patriotism.

“Dibs on top bunk,” Felix said, furthering his claim by throwing his carry-on bag atop it, eyes darting between Adrien and Peter as if daring either of them to refute him.

“Fine by me. I’m going to sleep on the floor,” Peter said. “So Adrien, you get the bottom bunk, if that’s alright.”

“Sleep…on the floor?” The hardwood floor did not look like it promised comfort. Peter didn’t seem to mind, however, cheerfully shrugging his backpack off.

“My aunt’s promised to get us sandwiches for dinner.”

“Sandwiches?” Felix frowned at him.

“You guys sure seem confused. They’ve got sandwiches in France and England, I know that for a fact.” He shook his head, leading them back out into the kitchen.

“Wait,” Felix called, prompting them to return. He was pointing at a small shoebox stuffed with tiny pillows and wash cloths.

“Uh!” Peter stared at it for a long moment and Adrien could practically see the gears in his head turning. “Bed for my pet pigeon!”

“You have a pet pigeon?” Adrien tilted his head. He didn’t really know enough about New Yorkers to argue, however. The only other one he’d ever met was Chloé’s mom and she wasn’t really a good representation of the general population. Already May Parker was one-upping Mme Bourgeois in every single way. For starters, she knew her relative’s name.

“Everyone has one. It’s a New Yorker thing, you know?” Peter gave him a look he couldn’t quite decipher. Was Peter…making fun of him? Adrien got that vibe but he didn’t understand how, as Peter hadn’t said anything remotely pertaining to him. Even so, the tone of voice and the statement itself sounded remotely familiar, but Adrien just couldn’t put his finger on it…

Either way, they left the apartment for the sandwich shop only a few minutes later, May telling Felix and Adrien stories about Peter and his friends and everything they got up to in New York. Adrien picked up pretty quickly that May knew about Peter’s…extracurricular activities, as she kept referring to the Avengers by their first names in her stories, skirting around any actual mention of superpowers.

“Once, Peter went to Germany and made lots of friends, like Rhodes and T’Challa,” she was in the middle of telling Felix when he fixed her with an odd stare.

“As in T’Challa, king of Wakanda?”

May froze on the spot, clearly not expecting Felix to have a wide understanding of the global monarchy. Peter quickly came to her defence, rather poorly, however.

“You meet all sorts through the Stark Internship. Also, T’Challa is a very common name, actually.”

Adrien intentionally hung back while May and Felix ordered their sandwiches after Peter exchanged a few quick sentences in Spanish with the owner.

“You know a king?” Adrien whispered to him under his breath as Peter grabbed a few packets of some sort of candy.

“Don’t think about it too much,” Peter hissed back. “Think of him more as a coworker, but not really. He’s like my boss, but not my boss, if you get my meaning? Kinda like HR? You know how they’re a part of the company technically but you don’t really talk to them unless you’ve got a problem because they’ve got their own thing going? Wakanda is Human Resources within the Avengers.”

Adrien blinked, trying to process how the entire country of Wakanda could be compared to Human Resources but Peter had already moved on, enthusiastically chatting away with the employees.

“Peter, we haven’t seen you around lately!” One of them said, handing Felix his sandwich. Felix, who was used to his sandwiches coming wrapped in gold foil and made by a professional chef, took it gingerly, like it was bomb about to go off.

“Hey! Marco! I’ve been in Paris!”

“Paris? That’s where all those rich kids go. Are you a rich kid now, Pete?” Peter just laughed and shook his head.

“Nah, I don’t forget where I come from.”

“That’s right! Queens, New York, baby!” Marco danced around the owner, Mr. Delmar, to slap Peter’s sandwich down in front of him. Felix just continued to stare, like he was on the cusp of a having a stroke from the sheer amount of conversation and enthusiasm. If Adrien was considered sheltered from human interaction, then Felix was a hermit. Although Adrien suspected that was mostly by his own design.

“Time to go, boys,” May reminded them, passing Adrien his sandwich before hustling them out of the shop.

“Do you know where I can buy Camembert?” Adrien asked Peter as they stepped back out into the crisp evening air. He hadn’t known they would be skipping customs by riding in Tony Stark’s jet, so he hadn’t packed any cheese and sooner or later Plagg would chew him out for it.

“Man, this is America! All our cheese is fake.” Peter ripped into his bag of gummy candy with gusto.

“Can’t you wait until we’re at the apartment, Peter?” May sighed without any real exasperation as they ran through traffic.

“You know,” Felix said, narrowly avoiding a car that didn’t even slow for him. “Crosswalks are actually one of my favourite inventions. John Peake Knight, first one was actually made in London, and they’re very helpful for not almost- eep!”

A highly uncharacteristic squeak escaped Felix’s throat as he leapt over the gutter, away from whatever had scared him.

“Did you see a rat?” Peter asked, his tone suggesting that rats were not a phenomenon.

“Is that common here?” Adrien tilted his head, beginning to wonder about New York’s overall cleanliness, but was cut off by Felix shuddering.

“It looked like a glass eyeball!”

Peter and May exchanged a look that seemed to say, _nothing new_ , before Peter just shrugged.

“I’ve seen much weirder. Let’s go.”

“No, I’m not ready to move past this!” Felix jogged slightly to catch up with their group as they continued down the street. “You’ve seen _weirder_?”

“If it’s any consolation, it was probably a real eyeball, not a glass one,” May chimed in, as if that would help matters. Felix paled slightly, obviously so far out of his usual element. London wasn’t the cleanest of places either, but Felix lived in the Chelsea neighbourhood so chances were the weirdest of sights he’d ever seen was the occasional drunk millionaire. New York would be a good opportunity for him to be exposed to the lesser things in life.

They reached the apartment without spotting any weirder objects (not that Adrien was particularly looking, in fact he’d begun to think that ignorance was indeed bliss) and settled in the sitting room to eat their sandwiches. Peter put on a Star Wars movie after a bit of debate with Felix over which one they should start with, for Adrien’s sake. He wasn’t sure which one they actually decided on, as Felix kept talking over the dialogue to point things out to Adrien and then Peter would chime in, leaving him thoroughly confused but better educated on the history of some planet called Tatooine which the main character(s?) may or may not have been on currently. Adrien honestly had no idea.

“Not a Star Wars fan?” May asked when Adrien inevitably wandered into the kitchen after being yelled at by both Peter and Felix when he didn’t get properly upset at some random old dude’s death. Adrien hadn’t even known his name, let alone why he was essential to the plot.

“Never seen it before,” Adrien admitted, helping her tidy. “Don’t think it’s the best idea to watch it for the first time with two super-fans.”

“Good call,” May laughed. “Is this your first time in America?”

“I’ve been to California before and maybe a few other places, I can’t remember it too well.”

“Disneyland?”

“I wish. I only ever went to Disney World as a tiny little kid. Before I became a model or whatever.” Adrien leaned against the counter, doing his best to keep his tone light and expression neutral, but May had picked up on his slight change of attitude. Maybe Peter’s sense of perception wasn’t just from being Spiderman, but inherited.

“I take it you’re not a fan of modelling?” She pushed her glasses up slightly, pausing her cleaning.

“Modelling is…complicated. I only started doing it to make my father happy, I thought it would bring us closer together. Instead it only drove us further apart.”

“What would you do, if you had the choice?” May looked at him earnestly but Adrien was at a loss for words. No one had really ever asked him that, or considered what he wanted in life. In fact, he didn’t even know.

“I couldn’t even tell you. Most of the time I just do whatever it takes to keep people happy. I didn’t even go to school for the first fourteen years of my life. Homeschooling only.”

“Jeez,” May sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I can’t even imagine what that must be like for you, stuck in a big ol’ mansion doing whatever you can to make others happy. But Adrien, honey, you can’t always please everyone. Sometimes the only way you can be content is if you make _yourself_ happy.”

“Trust me, I’ve tried.” Adrien glanced over his shoulder at where Felix and Peter were continuing to pour over their movie, sharing theories and gummy candy. “I think that’s why Peter and I are so close. He never expects anything from me, if that makes sense? Everyone else likes me for my money, my status, my appearance. But Peter just likes me for who I am. Somehow he picked out who I was before even I knew.”

“Good to know I raised him right,” May laughed.

“You raised the greatest hero I know,” Adrien said, his voice dropping. “You did better than raise him right.”

“He’s told you too, I suppose?”

“I sort of found out. He saved my life. On multiple occasions.”

“That sounds like Peter.” She looked past Adrien, looking at her nephew where he was mimicking lightsaber noises in time with the sabres onscreen.

“It must’ve been hard, taking him in and everything.” Adrien glanced at her, not wanting to intrude too much. “Peter’s told me somethings, but it must’ve been really hard on you.”

“I loved Peter,” she said, her eyes still trained just past Adrien’s shoulder. “I’m not even related to him by blood, I married his uncle, but he’s like a son to me now. As soon as we learned what happened to his parents…I mean there was no choice to be made. We took him in on the spot. And when Ben died, I had Peter to turn to.” As soon as the last words left her mouth, her smile returned and she looked back at him. “He was a hero in my eyes long before I learned he was Spiderman.”

“My mom died,” Adrien said, rocking back against the counter and squinting his eyes shut at the brazenness of his words. “That came out wrong, I was trying to relate. Sorry, I’ll just…not.”

May’s eyes softened. “And I take it you and your father’s relationship has struggled since then?”

“It’s always been bad.” Adrien wasn’t sure why he was opening up to May in her kitchen after knowing her for a few hours, but the Parkers seemed to have that effect on him. First Peter had presented himself as a brotherly figure, and now May was already becoming a motherly figure in his eyes. After his mother’s death, he’d tried so hard to seek the same solace in Nathalie, but it became apparent rather quickly that it wasn’t the same. Nathalie loved him, but her job came first in every sense. May, however, reminded him of his mother. They both had the same loving light in their eyes, like they touched the souls of everyone they met.

“Before he was a workaholic. I barely saw him, but that’s just the life of a famous fashion designer, right? And so I’d spend what time I could with my mother, but she was a famous actress who was constantly travelling for different roles. She spent what time she could with me, and I think she always felt bad for being so busy but what could she do? So a lot of my childhood was spent alone, just sitting in my room. I’m pretty sure I have the world’s highest Pac-Man score.” He laughed without humour.

“I’ve never been good at making friends either. The only ones I were allowed to have as a child were Felix, and Chloé Bourgeois, the mayor’s daughter. And when I went to school for the first time, people only wanted to know me because of my fame. For a few days I liked it. But then I realized it was a lonely existence to be adored without merit. I made a few real friends, though, but none quite like Peter.” _And Ladybug,_ he thought internally. “And I think that’s because he wasn’t impressed and why would he be? Peter hangs out with Tony Stark, he’s used to money and cool suits. He’s literally freaking Spiderman, so he’s used to power and being generally the coolest person in the room. And he’s Peter Parker, so he’s a genius who automatically just seems to understand stuff that leaves everyone else’s heads reeling. It’s so refreshing to not have to live up to the expectations he’s set for me because he straight up just doesn’t have any!”

“He learned pretty early on that you can put people on pedestals but then they’re just that much easier to knock over, with that much further to fall.” She didn’t elaborate and a bleary-eyed Peter and Felix wandered into the kitchen at that very moment.

“Jet lagged?” May guessed, patting Peter on the cheek. “Off to bed with you three, now.”

Adrien made to move but she held up a hand to tell him to hang back, just for a moment.

“Adrien,” she said as soon as Peter and Felix had disappeared off into the room. “If anything happens when you go back to Paris and you need to get out, I know I’m halfway across the world but my door is always open for you. I’ll give you my phone number before you leave and if you ever need anything at all, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Thanks mo-I mean, May.” Adrien blinked hard at his mixup. May was many things, but she wasn’t his mother. “Can I have a hug?” He’d barely registered the request before it escaped his mouth. May let out an ‘ _aww’_ before scooping him into one of the best hugs he’d ever had, rubbing his back before sending him off to bed.

“Your aunt’s the best, Peter,” Adrien said as he shuffled into the bedroom.

“Don’t tell me you think she’s hot too,” Peter groaned as he set up his sleeping bag on the floor.

“What? No!” Adrien hadn’t even considered May’s general attractiveness. He was doing what he always did with any grown woman that wandered into his life – searching for a motherly figure.

“Move your fat fucking head, I’m going to wash up,” Felix lightly kicked Peter’s head as he walked by.

“I just _implied_ that _maybe_ Emperor Palpatine wasn’t the best villain of all time! You don’t need to bully me!” Peter called after Felix, muttering something else under his breath that Adrien didn’t catch.

“Are we suiting up tonight?” Adrien asked the second he knew Felix was out of earshot.

“You insane? Of course not. I’m tired, you’re tired, you told Ladybug you were in _England_ and I’m supposed to be getting suit renovations, whatever that means. We’re not suiting up, period.”

“You said lying was fine to protect our identities.” Adrien sat down on the bottom bunk, the mattress significantly more worn than he was used to and a lot creakier. “Plus, it’s dark out, no one would see us.”

“Okay, one, I literally _never_ said that. Two, this is New York. People don’t sleep here and the lights stay on all night. No matter how dark your suit is, people are going to see you, take pictures, post them on Twitter calling you a cat boy and then bam! Ladybug will be mad at you.” 

“Peter pleaseeeeee.” Adrien was not above begging and giving Peter his best kitten eyes.

“Okay, I’m a master of the puppy dog eyes, so that’s not going to work on me. We can go out tomorrow night, though, no suits, just us having fun in the town. Maybe meet up with Ned or something.”

Adrien didn’t get the chance to protest as Felix chose that very moment to march back into the room, a new argument prepared to lob at Peter, who eagerly countered him with his own verbal cannonball. Still clueless as to what they were talking about, Adrien grabbed his toiletry back and marched into the bathroom.

“No Camembert? What kind of lousy country is this?” Plagg complained the second Adrien had shut the door.

“I’ll look for a cheese market or something for you tomorrow,” Adrien promised half-heartedly, uncertain as to whether or not he’d actually be upholding his end of the bargain.

“You better!” Plagg’s words were overshadowed by the buzzing of his phone against the sink counter. His superhero phone.

A text from Ladybug blinked up at him and Adrien had never unlocked his phone so fast in his life.

 **[ Missed seeing you for patrol tonight ]** He grinned at her words. Ladybug, openly being all sweet and cute with him? Adrien couldn’t believe his luck.

[ if I were there, I’d give you a kiss goodnight~ ]

[ but for now I guess emojis will have to do ] He attached a kissy face emoji to the message, sending it off with a grin.

**[ Dork ]**

**[ Having fun in England? ]**

[ oh yeah it’s great ] Adrien replied honestly, his mind wandering as he tried to picture Ladybug typing out the texts to him. What would she be doing? Was she at home, watching a movie or doing her homework? Or was she out with friends, thinking of him? Now that he thought about it, it was probably about two in the morning, so he really hoped she was at home and in bed, just there to wish him a goodnight.

[ my cousin made me watch star wars lol ]

**[ I would’ve thought that you were already a Star Wars fan ]**

**[ Seems like it would be your sort of thing ]**

[ I guess we’ll never know because he talked through all of it ]

[ kind of difficult to follow the plot if no one can get a word in edgewise ]

[ not that I’m complaining but you should go to sleep ]

[ it may not be a school day for me but it sure is one for you ]

**[ Wow ]**

**[ This is the first time I’ve ever heard you ask me to leave ]**

[ what can I say ]

[ I value your wellbeing ]

[ goodnight my lady <3 ]

**[ Goodnight Chat ]**

**[ Have fun tomorrow ]**

Adrien shut his phone off, exiting the bathroom with what was probably the most lovesick grin ever, at least until he accidentally planted his foot right between Peter’s legs, failing to realize that his friend was lying on the ground.

“Ow!” Peter howled, curling up into a ball. “Jesus, Adrien!

“Peter! Why were you there?”

“Can you twits shut up?” Felix poked his head above the edge of the top bunk. “Some of us are actually trying to sleep.”

“ _Some_ of us might’ve just lost our ability to produce children in the future,” Peter groaned as Adrien apologized profusely.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think you could actually be hurt!” Adrien whispered as Felix rolled back over with a disinterested grunt.

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” Peter groaned. “Of course I can get hurt! I’m not made of fucking metal!”

May, who had been passing by the door, cast a frown in Peter’s direction. “She gets it from you.”

“Yeah, we all know she gets it from me! I’m just surprised you bought it for this long!”

Adrien had absolutely no idea who ‘she’ was, but apparently someone had inherited Peter’s rather choice vocabulary and May was obviously less than pleased about it, if her disappointed stare was any indication. Maybe a cousin? Or family friend? Someone young and impressionable, for sure.

“Time for bed, boys.” May switched the light off and closed the door, her footsteps retreating off down the hall.

“I’m sorry, Peter,” Adrien whispered, tiptoeing his way over to the bottom bunk and settling down with slight difficulty.

“Just shut up and go to sleep, Agreste.” Peter shuffled noisily around in his sleeping bag, muttering something under his breath.

Adrien settled down on his bed, bouncing slightly on the springy mattress, recalling all Peter’s stories about New York and really hoping that no rats chewed through his shirt while he was asleep.

He awoke the next morning to a pillow covering his face. Felix’s, he assumed, having fallen at some point during the night.

“Good morning,” Peter said mildly, dropping down from the ceiling. Adrien raised an eyebrow in question. Peter just grinned. “Gotta get a head start on the day.”

“Breakfast is ready!” May called from the kitchen.

“You wake Felix up,” Adrien said, quickly pulling a sweater on and dancing out of the room. “I’m not looking to die at eight am.”

He skipped into the kitchen as Peter hesitantly approached Felix’s sleeping form, eager to leave the room before Felix went nuclear.

“Adrien!” May turned around from where she’d been placing a plate on the table. “Your assistant sent over a whole list of foods you’re not allowed to eat, so I figured why not make all of them? A proper English breakfast; bacon, eggs, French toast, sausages, the works!”

“It looks amazing,” Adrien said, sitting down at the table.

“Where’s Peter?”

“Dead, I presume.” It was at that moment that Felix, looking like he was prepared to _kill_ but already dressed in his usual collared shirt and tie, entered the kitchen, Peter following loosely behind.

“There you boys are!” May ruffled Peter’s hair as he sat, grabbing his knife and fork.

“We invited a homicidal maniac into our home,” Peter said stiffly, looking at Felix with wide eyes.

“I haven’t had my morning cup of tea,” Felix sneered, pouring ample amounts of maple syrup over his pancakes and sausages, squeezing the bottle like it was personally responsible for all his various plights.

And Adrien? Well, he was in heaven. New York was already a million times better than his (home) life in Paris. As they dug in, May chatted with them, even managing to bring Felix out of his shell slightly. It shouldn’t have been weird to him that May ate meals with them but it had been awhile since Adrien had a parental figure actually sit in the same room as him.

Between her and Peter’s playful banter, Adrien could piece together just how _healthy_ their relationship was. He didn’t particularly like to think that his relationship with his father was toxic, per say, although multiple people had told him that it was, but he’d refused to see how bad it had gotten until that moment. Watching Peter casually toss a grin in May’s direction with complete comfort following a rather cheeky comment and watching her laugh in response, Adrien realized what he was missing. He wanted it so bad, he didn’t even know what to do with himself in that epiphanic moment.

Maybe his father would never be just like May, but what if Adrien tried to make a bit more of an effort to talk to him? Even if it was just small conversations, his father had to open up more over time, right?

“Adrien?” Adrien glanced up from where he’d been poking his scrambled eggs, shovelling them around his plate, lost in thought. The whole table was staring at him, clearly waiting for some sort of response.

“Huh?” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “What was that, sorry?”

“Felix wants the butter,” Peter said, pointing at the butter dish that was set next to Adrien.

“Oh, yeah.” Adrien lifted it, passing it to Felix who mumbled words of thanks.

“Are you okay, honey?” May was looking at him with concerned eyes, causing Adrien to bob his head quickly in attempt to expel her worries.

“I was just thinking about…things.” He looked at Peter, who shot him a questioning glance. Adrien shook his head slightly to tell him ‘ _no_ ’ and that it really was nothing.

“May, I was thinking of taking Adrien and Felix to Times Square by subway today,” Peter said lightly, drumming his fingers on the table.

“Go for it,” May replied, idly cutting up her pancake. “It’s probably best you boys are out of the house while I’m cooking. What time is Tony coming?”

“ _Tony Stark_ is coming to thanksgiving dinner?” Felix choked slightly, drinking a gulp of tea before setting his cup down with more force than Adrien thought necessary.

“Yeah, he asked for an invite,” Peter grinned, polishing off his plate. “So hurry up. It’s an hour long ride there.”

The subway was the furthest thing from clean Adrien had ever seen. Reminiscent of the bottom of a trash can, random items were strewn about the seats and floor, along with a pigeon that seemed to have just strolled into the train car. Peter had only let them linger on the platform for a moment to ‘build up their rat tolerance’ by having them look at the tracks which seemed to be home to a ~~large~~ colony of rodents. Needless to say, Adrien hadn’t had enough time to acclimatize to the rats’ apparent prevalence in New York before he’d been unceremoniously shoved onto the train.

“You’re that French model, right?” A girl dressed in what appeared to be Wednesday Addams cosplay approached him as the train left the station. She appeared to be about their age, black lipstick and a black dress, black hair divided into two braids that ran down her front. Her platform boots were so massive that, despite her being obviously on the shorter side, she stood almost eye level to him.

“Adrien Agreste? That’s me.” Adrien let out an airy laugh, already uncomfortable.

“Can I get a picture?”

Adrien agreed, just wanting to get the interaction over with before someone else recognized him, flashing his best model smile for her camera. Just as he thought it would be done, the train lurched unexpectedly, sending him flying towards the disgusting floor he despised so much. Luckily, Peter caught him before he could descend into a germaphobe’s hell, easily righting Adrien back on his feet.

“I’m Gina.” Oh, so apparently the interaction was not over. Adrien could hear Felix and Peter whispering about something behind him, presumably both in French and about him.

“Really nice to meet you, Gina,” Adrien said, donning his best ‘thank you now please leave me alone’ tone.

“I’m actually a photographer. Lookin’ to get into the fashion scene. Got any tips?” She smacked her gum loudly and Adrien wanted to _die._ The last thing he wanted to think about on that trip was fashion. It was bad enough he’d have to go do a quick shoot tomorrow to uphold his end of his promise to his father, let alone talk about it with a stranger on the subway.

“Um, I don’t really have any. I just go where they tell me to and stand where they tell me to.”

“Well, what do the good photographers do?” She pressed.

“They go into nature photography,” Adrien said before he could stop himself, feeling Peter’s peals of laughter behind him before he heard them.

“This is our stop, Adri,” Peter managed, gripping Adrien’s shoulder to steer him away from Gina, who was now fixing him with a look that appeared both angry and mocking at the same time, and off the subway.

“Scary girl on scary subway,” Adrien muttered, swatting Peter’s hand away as they stepped onto the platform.

“I would hardly call her _scary_ ,” Felix said, heading towards the exit as fast as his feet could carry him. Adrien was beginning to think he had a fear of rats. “You looked like she’d shoved a knife under your throat rather than asked for a photo.”

“I was kind of hoping no one would notice me this time,” Adrien shoved his hands into his pockets as they climbed the stairs, stepping back out into the light.

“Fat chance,” Peter snorted, but Adrien barely paid any mind to him, because Times Square was beautiful. There were so many buildings with so many lights and flashing signs and billboards and everyone was milling around and it was gorgeous and-

-his face was staring back at him. Apparently he’d been incorrect about the release date of the spreads him and Peter had been in. Or maybe Times Square was just an exception. Either way, Adrien’s likeness was shining down on him, his face made look serene as he stared off into middle distance, dressed in the finest Agreste winter suits. The suit in question was a crushed red velvet, one his father had insisted Adrien add to his own closet. And before Adrien’s very eyes, the billboard changed, his image dissolving and being replaced with a familiar set of abs.

“No fucking way,” Peter cursed. Only the bottom half of his face was shown, his hand caressing his own jaw, a wet, white shirt that hid absolutely nothing plastered to his body, Agreste brand briefs maintaining the rest of his modesty. And Felix was practically cackling beside them as the screen changed again, showing another shot of Adrien.

“This seems like some sort of sick glitch in the simulation,” Adrien grumbled, already preparing for the amount of staring he was going to get if his freaking picture was plastered above him.

“I’ve got an idea,” Peter said. “Just put on sunglasses and a tourist shirt. The locals avoid tourists like the plague.”

He lead them to a souvenir shop and emerged a few moments later with a yellow t-shirt that read ‘City Boy’ with a picture of an apple below it and another that simply said ‘I <3 NYC’. He handed the latter to Adrien and the former to Felix, who didn’t look thrilled in the slightest, pulling the yellow fabric atop his collared shirt and tie.

Adrien slipped his green jacket off to pull on the t-shirt, topping the look off with a pair of mirrored sunglasses Peter handed him.

“Adrien, you look badass,” Peter said. “Felix, I always knew you were a city boy at heart.”

“If I didn’t share the same face as Adrien, I’d literally kill you,” Felix griped.

“Whatever you say, city boy. Plastic surgery is an option, although I’d hardly complain if I had the same face as a world famous model.”

“Where should we go?” Adrien asked, beginning to feel slightly overwhelmed from the noise of thousands of people milling about combined with the flashing lights.

“There’s the wax museum,” Peter suggested. Adrien agreed, following Peter along, knowing with a gnawing certainty that one of his various wax statues was inside. His experience with wax museums had an…interesting history, but perhaps his lack of female companions this time around would keep him from screwing up like he had last time.

But once he stepped into the foyer, he knew why Peter had suggested it.

Because staring down at him, looking far more menacing that he ever did in real life, was Spiderman.

* * *

Peter was elated as he stared up at this wax model, the newest addition to the superhero line. Of course, he couldn’t exactly marvel _too_ much since Felix was right there and also blissfully unaware of Peter’s alter ego and it would be creepy if Peter showed too much interest in his ‘coworker’.

“I’m just going to take a photo, since I think Spiderman would really like to…see this.” He didn’t wait to see Felix’s reaction, instead whipping out his phone and snapping pictures from all angles. Ned was going to lose his mind.

They didn’t spend too long in there, as Adrien seemed rather on edge and Peter had gotten what he’d came for, so they headed back out into the square, where Peter saw something he’d been on the lookout for ever since they arrived. And there it was, his lord, his saviour, his perfect revenge plan for Felix’s little stunt before breakfast where he’d tried his very best to outright strangle Peter.

A disheveled looking Elmo with matted fur was trudging around, yelling various things at passing tourists. _Perfect._

“Hey Felix, why don’t you go take a photo with Elmo?” Peter suggested innocently. Felix gave him a look that suggested he would rather let the rats on the subway eat him alive than go anywhere near that man, but Adrien was on Peter’s side.

“Yeah Felix! It’ll be great to show your mum!” Adrien was just trying to be supportive to help Felix have a good time, Peter could tell, but his own motivations were far less pure. Every New Yorker knew to steer clear of the costumed people. If they so much as suspected they were in the background of one of your photos, they’d hunt you down and make you pay.

And there was no way Felix was going to agree to pay twenty bucks for a photo with some random Elmo guy, pay no mind to the fact he was literally loaded. An unstoppable force was about to meet an immovable object, and Peter loved physics.

“Fine,” Felix begrudgingly agreed with a roll of his eyes, approaching the Elmo with an air of confidence Peter could never muster. That poor Elmo had no idea what was about to hit him.

Felix held up his phone, capturing a blank faced selfie with the Elmo before attempting to simply slide his phone into his pocket and return to Peter and Adrien. The Elmo had other plans, however, grabbing Felix’s phone before he could leave.

“You gotta pay for that, pal,” the Elmo said in a far gruffer voice than Peter could ever recall Elmo as having, doing his best to pry Felix’s phone out of his suddenly iron grip.

“Pay for what?” Felix enunciated every word clearly, tone laced with challenge.

“The photo, man. You can’t just up and walk away. This is my craft.”

“I’m not going to pay for some _photo._ ”

“Then your friends are going to be taking photos of your brains when I smash your head open on the concrete!” The Elmo leapt at Felix, screaming some form of war cry, obviously not one to beat around the bush.

And, as it always did for Peter when things got intense, time seemed to slow down as he watched Felix. Something in his brain seemed to switch from challenging to calculating, and Peter could see him lower his centre of gravity, putting his weight into his feet. And that’s when Peter realized that Felix was actually trained in the martial arts. Quite honestly, he’d just been expecting Felix to make thinly veiled threats against the Elmo man before hightailing when things got physical, but apparently Felix was prepared to go down with his guns blazing.

“Welp, we had a good trip,” Peter said to Adrien as Elmo threw the first punch.

“What?” Adrien glanced at him, an confused look on his face, clearly not grasping the true gravity of the situation that was his cousin fighting a man that was most likely on meth in the middle of Times Square.

“Yeah, we’re about to watch someone die.”

Felix clocked the Elmo in the head before stepping back, raising his hands to eye level. The head was obviously the most padded part of the costume, and Peter would definitely not have elected that to be his first target, but he decided not to intervene, simply to enjoy the show.

Elmo man decided to attempt a roundhouse kick, something that would’ve been more successful if his boots weren’t padded. Felix easily blocked the kick and aimed a kick of his own, straight into the most sensitive spot he could find.

“Are you wearing a cup?” Felix glowered as his kick between the man’s legs proved unsuccessful in terms of effect.

“Hell yeah baby, you never know when I’m going to have to take one of you fucking tourists to pound town.”

“Pound town is slang for having sex,” Peter informed Adrien, thinking it rather essential he didn’t miss out on that little gem. “I take it Elmo doesn’t know that.”

“When you _what_?” Felix said, disbelief written on his features. “You know what, I’m going to kick your ass, clown man.”

And Felix proceeded to do just that, grabbing hold of the Elmo’s arm and flipping him over his head, slamming the costumed man into the ground with a resounding crack.

Felix came running towards them and for a moment, Peter thought he was coming after him next, until Felix ran straight past him, calling over his shoulder.

“Run!”

“Did you _kill_ him?” Adrien asked, nearly tripping over his own feet as the trio booked it away.

“Might’ve paralyzed him,” Felix replied. “Don’t think he’ll die though. But he’s definitely not going to be happy when he gets up.”

The next few hours were spent looking over their shoulders, making sure they weren’t being followed by a herd of angry Elmos before Peter got a call from Aunt May, asking him to pick up some zucchini on his way back, promising she’d text him if she remembered anything else.

“Why don’t you guys wander around for a bit?” Peter suggested, glancing at the list of other things May had forgotten that she’d just sent him, along with the request for a tablecloth and some linen napkins. “I’ve got some errands to run and I don’t want you guys to miss out on seeing the city.”

Felix and Adrien readily agreed, and Peter told them to meet him in front of the red steps in an hour and a half. Should be plenty of time for him to pick out colour coordinating tableware and an odd assortment of produce.

No sooner had he stepped into Macy’s than he received a phone call, one from Chloé Bourgeois at that. It took one hundred percent of Peter’s willpower not to fling the phone into the nearest wine glass display as he pressed answer.

“Hé,” he said simply, turning cloth napkins over in his hands while he waited her to get down to business.

“Why isn’t Adrien answering his phone?” She demanded. Peter hung up.

He’d wanted to do that since her ‘talk’ with him at school, the day after the heist, where she’d made it _very_ clear she wanted nothing to do with him.

 _What was it she said?_ Peter thought idly. _Oh yes, ‘people like me aren’t friends with people like_ you _’. How lovely._

Nonetheless, when she called again, he picked up. He didn’t really know why. He had nothing to prove to her, yet something compelled him to press that little green button.

“We’re not friends. If you’ve got something to say to Adrien, say it to him yourself,” Peter said sharply, setting aside a box of crisp red napkins for later consideration.

“Well I can’t say anything to him if he’s not answering his phone!” She whined from the other end. Peter rolled his eyes.

“Okay, not my problem. He’s not here right now.”

“Where is he then?”

“No idea. If it’s important, call Felix, he’s with him.”

She sputtered before forcing out a response. “I will _not_ call Felix! But it _is_ important!”

“Tough luck sunshine,” Peter said, beginning to wonder if it was too soon to hang up again.

“You’re not seriously still mad at me, are you?” Chloé accused.

“Mad at you? Gosh, it’s almost like you told me not to talk to you. We’re not on the same level, got the message loud and clear.”

“You know I didn’t mean it like that,” Chloé’s tone sounded odd through the phone. Peter couldn’t tell what she meant by that statement.

“I don’t really know what to think of you, Chloé, in all honesty. I tried to be nice to you and you turned around and literally insulted me to my face.”

“Okay, do you want me to be honest?”

Peter just wanted the conversation to be over. He was done caring, he’d moved on. Chloé didn’t seem to care enough to wait for a response, however, ploughing on.

“I don’t have many friends-” Peter snorted, hard, but Chloé appeared not to hear him as she continued “- and especially not nice ones like Adrien. But definitely not ones like you.”

“Yeah, because we’re not friends.”

“I’d like us to be.”

Peter wanted to bash his head against the nearest display table. Indecisive much? “What do you _mean_ you want us to be? I tried that, you made it very clear being friends wasn’t in your agenda.”

“I changed my mind.”

“And what brought around this resounding realization?” Peter grabbed a harvest themed tablecloth and the matching napkins, beginning his search for an elusive ‘Lazy Susan’ as per May’s request.

“When I realized you’re the sort of person everyone wants to be friends with.”

“Great, so I’m trendy and now you want to be pals. I don’t think so.” Peter was beginning to feel slightly offended by the conversation and honestly just wanted it to be over as soon as possible.

“I don’t know how to explain this to you! Argh. When do you get back?”

“Day after tomorrow,” Peter said curtly.

“I’ll see you on Monday.” And with that she hung up, leaving Peter standing in the housewares section and feeling very, very confused and mostly annoyed.

Due to his tumult of thoughts, Peter did not manage to locate the Lazy Susan, nor did he try very hard. In fact, the second the phone call ended Peter marched his ass right on over to the checkout, paid, and left.

He reached the meeting place in time after popping by a grocery store along the way, arms now laden with various items in bags that would most likely break before he got back on the subway. Peter loved life.

For twenty minutes, Peter waited, until finally Adrien and Felix appeared in the crowd and made their way over to him.

“Sorry, we got lost,” Adrien said, one hand gripping a Starbucks coffee; the other, a massive Saks bag that most likely held clothes that cost more than Peter’s entire apartment. “And my phone died.”

“How do you get lost?” Peter asked. “It’s a grid system, the streets are numbered!”

“I can’t read,” Adrien deadpanned. “And Felix isn’t much help.” Felix did not dispute this comment.

“Let’s get back to the subway,” Peter said, his frown still lingering after Chloé’s call.

“What happened?” Adrien asked as they made their way through the bustling tourist hub.

“Chloé called me,” Peter muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. “She had something she wanted to tell you.”

“I thought you two weren’t speaking.”

“We’re not.”

“What the _fuck_ is that?” Felix leapt away from the subway entrance, pointing an accusing finger at the ground.

“Dead rat,” Peter said, barely needing to glance at the fuzzy lump on the pavement to know what it was. “Keep moving, don’t touch it.”

“I wasn’t going to!” 

The second they returned to the apartment, May snatched the bags out of Peter’s arms before running back into the kitchen, what sounded like a symphony of timers going off in her wake.

“I’m going to go see if she needs any help,” Peter said to his friends, quickly ducking into the kitchen.

“Nope! Out!” May said the second she saw him standing there. “You’re like a curse on my meals!”

“I’m not a curse-” Peter started before a pot on the stove bubbled over, steam hissing sharply.

“Go to my room to check on Su.” May waved a hand at him, shooing him away.

Peter meandered on into her room, able to tell when he wasn’t wanted, surprised to see Suluu set up with May’s phone, watching some tv show.

“Peter!” She squeaked the second she saw him, pausing the video and zooming off the bed where she’d been resting.

“Hey Su, having fun?” He glanced down to see what she was watching. “Is that Lucifer? You do not need to be watching that you little demon.” He snatched the phone away from her, turning child lock on.

“I’ll have you know I like that show. I’m learning lots.” Suluu folded her arms across her chest, smirking up at him.

“I know you are which is why I’m taking it away. How’s rooming with May?” Since Suluu couldn’t very well sleep in his room at night, Peter had transferred her tiny (not a pigeon) bed into May’s room, generally leaving her to her own devices and trusting she wouldn’t get bored and let her inner arsonist shine through.

“It’s been great,” Suluu said. “She makes me nice little bubble baths for me in the bathroom sink, she even lights candles, it’s so nice.”

“Good to hear it,” Peter said. “Listen, we’ll go out tonight while everyone’s asleep, visit Ned for a bit, okay? Get you some fresh air.”

“Please, this is nothing,” Suluu waved an arm. “I was trapped in the Space Between for soooo long. Two days of sitting in silence is literally a blink of an eye.”

“What’s the Space Between?”

“It’s exactly what you’d think it was. Literally nothing exists, you just kind of float there for as long as you like. Kwamis that are in the miracle box can see each other down there, but if you’re not, well then it’s just the most boring expanse of nothing you’ve ever seen. I don’t actually know what it’s called, so I coined it as the Space Between.”

“Sounds fascinating,” Peter said earnestly.

“You’re weird,” Suluu chirped, taking the phone back from him and settling back down on the bed. “Fascinating is literally the exact opposite of everything that realm is. Can you ask May to bring some more of that spicy rice she’s making with her next time she comes in here? I can smell it and it’s making me hungry.”

“For sure?” Peter gave her an odd glance, then wandered back to the kitchen. Adrien and Felix were playing some sort of video game on their phones in the living room and May seemed to be done with the cooking portion of dinner and was now attempting to plate it all.

“How is she?” May asked, carefully pouring gravy into the gravy boat.

“Good, she wants, uh, spicy rice?”

“She is so much like you.” May flashed him a brilliant smile as she straightened up.

“She’s not my kid or anything,” Peter laughed, tapping his finger against his side. Suluu was his responsibility, but not in the way he imagined parenthood was. She was fairly independent and would never willingly let Peter think he was the superior. Rules meant nothing to her when he was the one establishing them, such as the ‘no swearing’ rule he’d tried to implement which had lasted for an entire twenty five minutes until the Dupain-Cheng bakery had been sold out of cinnamon buns. Then Peter had heard her list off possibly every swear word ever invented.

“Okay, but she’s so cute! It’s like I have my very own little grandchild, even if said grandchild is a god and also a phoenix.”

“Sure,” Peter agreed mildly, deciding to let her have this one. He was saved from any further discussion about grandchildren, bird or otherwise, by a knock at the door. That could only be one person.

“Tony Stark! Tony Stark is here!” Adrien all but screamed, smacking Felix’s phone out of his hands as Peter opened the door.

Mr. Stark was dressed in a crisp suit, far more dressed up than the rest of them and Peter was beginning to wish he’d brought the suit Adrien had given him.

“Happy thanksgiving, kid,” Tony said, giving Peter a crisp clap on the back as Peter invited him in, barely able to contain his grin.

“Mr. Stark, you remember Adrien,” Peter gestured to Adrien who had quickly stood up, standing extra straight.

“There’s two of him?” Tony glanced between Adrien and Felix.

“That one’s Felix, he’s Adrien’s cousin.”

And Felix, for once, was blissfully speechless, gazing at Tony Stark with wide eyes.

“Felix fought an Elmo in Times Square today,” Peter added as the silence became crushing.

“You fought an Elmo?” Tony turned to Felix with an impressed look. “Did you win?”

“I used the ippon seoi nage move to slam him into the ground,” Felix said, his expression returning to his usual neutral one. “There was no real fight.”

“Shut up,” Peter said. “You made us run afterwards.”

“Dinner’s ready!” May called.

The table was set with more food than Peter had ever seen May willingly make in one sitting. Every single thanksgiving food one could imagine was somewhere on the table, including Suluu’s spicy rice. It was an odd company as they seated themselves around the table, almost like a setup for a bad joke.

 _A superhero, fashion model, and a nerd sit down for thanksgiving dinner…_ , Peter thought to himself as he waited for his guests to take their portion of the meal. Adrien, poor, constantly starved Adrien, was loading up his plate with a literal mountain of mashed potatoes.

“Damn Goldie, do they not feed you in Paris?” Tony asked, eyeing Adrien’s plate.

“Adrien’s dad sucks,” Felix supplied, carefully carving the turkey without having been prompted to do so. “Since he’s a supermodel he has to be skinny.”

“Speaking of supermodels,” Tony began, giving Peter a mischievous smile, “Peter, how about that-”

“How about the resurgence of lace in men’s fashion?” Peter cut in hastily, not entirely prepared for May to find out about his stint in modelling. “Because I was _just_ thinking about that. The uh, lace hemmed suit jacket in the latest winter spread for the Agreste brand, that was really quite innovative for winter, given that lace is generally a spring fabric. Ahaha.”

Everyone at the table stared at him.

“I wasn’t…aware…that you knew that much about fashion,” Adrien braved the silence; really a bold move on his part.

“I mean, I hear a thing every now and again while I’m hanging around your photo shoots, you know,” Peter shrugged. He honestly hadn’t even known he knew that much about fashion until he’d said it aloud, not that it had been a groundbreaking statement or anything further than a simple observation.

“Paris is making you into a man!” May said delightedly. “He even got a proper suit and everything.” The second part of her statement was addressed to Tony, who laughed.

“If you needed a suit, kid, you should’ve come to me!”

“I’ve got plenty of suits, thanks,” Peter said, accepting the slice of turkey that Felix offered him. “Pass the butter, if you would, Adrien.”

“Are you putting butter on turkey?” Adrien asked, expression suggesting that he regretted passing the butter as Peter coated his turkey.

“Turkey is too dry usually,” Peter commented, unconcerned of what others thought of his eating habits.

“I can just see your chances of stroke increasing,” Felix commented as he speared each individual pea on his fork prongs before bringing it to his mouth, one at a time. It was almost mesmerizing.

The dinner continued with friendly banter, Adrien and Felix growing slightly more comfortable around Mr. Stark, or at least comfortable enough to shoot the occasional snide remark in Peter’s direction.

Once dinner was over, May and Adrien headed into the kitchen to prepare tea and hot chocolate, Adrien claiming he made fantastic hot chocolate and prepared to back it up with a demonstration. That left Peter, Mr. Stark, and Felix alone at the table.

“Say, Felix, you seem pretty smart,” Tony began, inspecting Felix over his glasses. “How would you feel about doing a little paid internship at Stark Industries? I’m sure we could set something up so you can do it while still in London, but you’re the kind of person we’d like on our team.”

Felix’s jaw dropped, properly emoting for the second time that night. “Just like Peter?”

“Well, Peter does something a little different, but yes, something along those lines.”

“Mr. Stark, I don’t know what to say.” Felix blinked hard, then swallowed harder. “I’m extremely honoured and I would be happy to accept.”

“Welcome to the team,” Tony held out a hand to shake Felix’s. “We’ll get you to do some training and sign some non-disclosures before you leave, but I think I’ve got the perfect job for you.”

“Really?” Peter and Felix chorused in unison.

“Well you see, not only am I Iron Man, but I’m also in charge of Spiderman, you may have heard of him, and I’ve been beginning to think that Spiderman needs his own manager, someone to manage his schedule and organize press conferences, the works, and I think you, Felix, might be the man for the job.”

“Mr. Stark!” Peter groaned running a hand through his hair. _What the hell is happening? Why Felix? Why anyone?_

“Does that mean I get to know Spiderman’s identity?” Felix asked eagerly.

“No idea,” Mr. Stark said, flashing Peter one of his famous smiles. “It’s up to him.”

“Hey Peter, don’t you work with Spiderman too?” Felix was actually smiling a genuine smile. He looked more like Adrien when he smiled, Peter noted.

Internally, Peter’s brain was screaming and setting off all sorts of alarms.

_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHRGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!_

“Yeah, yeah I do,” he said, calmly and collectedly as May and Adrien returned to the room, carting hot chocolate and tea.

“Peter will get you Spiderman’s number,” Tony said, pulling a business card out and handing it to Felix. “Call this number when you’re back in London and we’ll get you started on the job.”

“Mr. Stark?” Peter stood up, ignoring the questioning gazes of those around him. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

The only space that wasn’t overrun by guests, human and kwami alike, was Peter’s bedroom, so together he and Tony Stark strolled into the room, Peter shutting the door firmly behind them before wheeling on his mentor.

“What are you doing?” Peter said, waving his hands erratically.

“It’s about time Spiderman got a manager,” Tony supplied, inspecting one of the Lego Star Wars sets on Peter’s desk.

“I thought Happy was already my manager!”

“Happy’s your handler, there’s a difference. Plus, he’s the head of _my_ security. Now that you’re getting to be a big deal, you need your own team and Felix seems like the right person for the job. He’s pushy, I like that.”

“Pushy is good?”

“He seems like the kind of person who could get the…president? Prime minister? Of France and-”

“Both,” Peter supplied. “President is head of state, prime minister is head of government.”

“-and lay it out straight. When you come across people like that, you gotta take advantage of that fact because if you don’t, your enemies will.”

“I don’t really think it’s so much of a battle between good and evil, I mean if you didn’t recruit Felix, he might’ve gone on to become an accountant or something.…” Peter shifted his weight awkwardly. He _really_ didn’t want to entrust Felix with Spiderman, but it didn’t look like Mr. Stark was giving him a choice.

“And have his talents wasted? I don’t think so!”

“Or Wall Street,” Peter mumbled. “I could see him working on Wall Street….”

_Just wait until Ned hears about this one._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one is more surprised than me at Tony offering Felix a job, like good old Tony pulled a fast one on me I wasn’t expecting it but good on him because this is gonna add ~drama~ 
> 
> The New York trip was initially going to be done by the end of this chapter, but then I added the Felix vs. Elmo scene and...you know how it be. But they’ll return to Paris next time, I miss Ladybug and Marinette :(
> 
> Thanks for reading and I’ll see y’all next week!!!!!


	16. Comme Neuf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some plot, gratuitous references to Arthur Conan Doyle because why not, CHLOÉ REDEMPTION ARC BEGINS HECK YEAH

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo this was *supposed* to be posted yesterday, but instead I went house hunting because...drumroll...I’m moving to Montréal next year!!! A lifelong dream finally coming to fruition but honestly that’s enough of a life update from me. Here’s the chapter!!!
> 
> Also, you can see human Suluu here: https://pin.it/15o2OOX  
> I drew her as a human just for kicks and she turned out so pretty I just had to include it in the chapter, even if it was just for a short scene.

Marinette was bored. So unbelievably, completely bored. Chat Noir, Adrien, Peter, and Spiderman had all only been gone for two days, but it’d been the longest two days of her life. She’d tried hanging out with Alya and focusing on school but she still found herself ~~obsessively stalking~~ checking Adrien and Peter’s social medias.

The only thing Adrien had posted to Instagram was a photo of him in Times Square beneath a giant billboard with a picture of him on it, along with the caption: ‘WINTER CATALOGUE AVAILABLE FRIDAY’. However, she shouldn’t have been surprised; his account was filtered through Nathalie before he could post anything.

Peter was the exact opposite, practically using the social app as a personal journal, posting multiple times a day. He’d posted a video to his story of him, Adrien, and Felix running through the streets, dodging passerby’s, yelling something about an Elmo. Accompanying this story, he’d posted multiple physical posts, one of Tony Stark asleep on what looked like an apartment couch, a movie playing on the tv behind him. It was captioned ‘thanksgiving and he’s never seen Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’. His other most recent post was a photo of him and another dude, tagged as theforceiswithned, a dark sky above them as they posed along a busy street, neon signs illuminating them.

“They look like they’re having fun,” Marinette said to Tikki, flopping down on the bed. It was late but she couldn’t seem to stop refreshing her feed. “I’m not sure why Felix is there, though.”

“He wasn’t the nicest last time we saw him, now was he?” Tikki frowned as Marinette rewatched Peter’s story for the billionth time.

“He was a reprehensible menace last time,” Marinette snorted with derision. “I guess him and Peter are friends now, though.”

“Is there anyone Peter _isn’t_ friends with?” Tikki asked, settling on Marinette’s pillow.

“If there is, I don’t think I’ve met them.” A thought occurred to Marinette and she opened the search tab, typing Spiderman’s name into the search handle. “Good lord,” she said, clicking on the first result.

“What is it?”

“Spiderman has _eighteen million_ followers!” The extent of Spiderman’s influence was a staggering contrast to the other accounts she’d been stalking. Adrien had what, nine million? Along with his own helping of fan accounts, and Peter only had a hundred or so. Since when had the suited hero surpassed the supermodel? Also, since when did _superheroes_ have social media? If Spiderman wasn’t careful, he could accidentally give away his identity.

Scrolling through his posts, Ladybug quickly realized that Spiderman used his account as a community outreach of sorts, promoting various petitions and charity organizations, along with the sparse image of himself or ad for an interview he’d done. His latest post had been a photo of a wax figure of himself, location tagged as New York. At least he was taking a vacation, Marinette reasoned.

His bio innocently boasted the tag line of ‘friendly neighbourhood spiderman’, despite the fact that his impact so obviously extended beyond a single neighbourhood.

“Is that a lot?” Tikki asked.

“For someone I know personally, yeah! Here I thought Adrien was the more famous one.”

“I think you should go to bed.” Tikki’s suggestion had a lot of merit, and she’d been suggesting the same thing for the past two hours. Obviously her New York visiting pals were either hanging out with Ned or asleep and there would most likely be no more content that night.

“Do you think I should text Chat?” She’d already texted him goodnight, to which he’d responded in his usual manner, but she missed him more than she’d care to admit.

“Go to _sleep_ Marinette! You still have school tomorrow.”

The next morning caused Marinette to really wish she’d heeded her kwami’s suggestion earlier. Chat had sent her a message at _six a.m._ of all times and she hadn’t been able to fall back asleep after her phone’s bright screen had sufficiently seared itself into her corneas. Even more obnoxiously, the message hadn’t been of any significance. It had been a meme in English that she didn’t understand, even after putting it through google translate.

“Up early and for what?” She grumbled to herself, dragging her feet as she entered the empty kitchen and prepared herself breakfast. “No one is even here to praise me for it.”

Tikki was still asleep and her parents were already down working in the bakery. She shot a text off to Alya but didn’t expect anything to come of it; Alya would still be asleep at this time. Texting Chat it was.

[ What are you doing up at this hour you silly kitty? ]

[ Isn’t it like 5:00 there? ]

His response, as always, was instantaneous.

**[ no? ]**

**[ I mean yes ]**

**[ it is indeed five in England which is where I am ]**

**[ but it isn’t too early for me ]**

[ Okkkkk? ]

[ How’s your cousin? ]

**[ he’s currently gloating ]**

**[ just got a new job ]**

**[ a very fancy one and not going to lie ]**

**[ I’m jealous ]**

[ Whaattt is being a superhero not fancy enough for you ]

[ mdr ]

**[ no no I love being chat noir ]**

**[ but my day job is… less than desirable ]**

**[ at least in my opinion ]**

Chat had talked about disliking his other job on many an occasion. From what Marinette could gather it was your typical, gruelling, entry level job, working for his dad’s company or something of the sort. Either way, he complained about it with regularity, often either preceded or succeeded by a few snide comments about his father. Her kitty’s home life seemed to be a bit of a disaster. Marinette just tried to listen when she could.

[ Have you talked to your dad about quitting? ]

**[ have you met my dad? ]**

**[ that was a stupid question sorry but you get what he’s like ]**

**[ if I tried that I’d most likely get disowned on the spot ]**

**[ sorry I have to go ]**

**[ my cousin is currently screaming bloody murder at my friend ]**

**[ attempted homicide is a part of his morning routine apparently ]**

**[ À plus tard my lady ]**

[ Good luck chaton ]

[ Something tells me you might need it ]

**[ <3 ] **

Marinette set her phone down with a sigh, wondering who Chat’s friend might be and whether homicidal tendencies ran in the family. She hoped not.

For possibly the first time in her lycée career, she was at school before Alya. In fact, when the redhead arrived, she looked straight past Marinette twice before realizing that it was, in fact, her friend and not a hallucination.

“Did I miss something?” Alya glanced at her phone. “Am I somehow late? Did you die and is this your ghost trying to tell me to find your body and avenge you?”

“ _No_ , I just woke up early for once,” Marinette said, rolling her eyes. She didn’t really have much to be tired about the last few days – the Papillon hadn’t sent out any akumas and her motivation to do patrols had dropped considerably now that there was no chance of running into her masked friends.

“Do I need to call an ambulance?”

“What?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng simply doesn’t just wake up _early_ and arrive at school on time!” Alya flailed her arms. “The only time I’ve seen you here earlier than I am is when you’re trying to talk to Adrien about something.”

Adrien’s name sparked a memory in the back of Marinette’s mind. “It’s Friday, isn’t it?”

“…yes?”

“The Agreste winter collection catalogue is out today!” Marinette exclaimed, whipping her phone out and typing a frantic text to her mom. “I preordered it and it was supposed to be delivered by this morning! I completely forgot I was going to wait until it arrived before going to school.” She groaned, shutting off her phone and clenching her fists in front of her face.

“You still have seven minutes until the bell rings, but that’s a ten minute walk,” Alya observed.

“I’ll run!” And run Marinette did. She tripped over multiple people and sidewalks on the way there and back but by god did she get that catalogue, plopping into her seat just as the bell rang.

“Impressive,” Alya said, slipping Nino a folded euro bill.

“Were you betting on whether I would make it back in time?” Marinette huffed but could barely bring herself to be annoyed as she looked down at her precious fashion magazine. Adrien was plastered across the cover spread in a crisp velvet suit.

 _No need to drool, you have a ver_ y _attractive boyfriend of your own and Adrien is your good friend,_ she reminded herself. _I wonder if I should get Chat something from Agreste for Christmas. Clearly the brand is catered towards beautiful blond boys._

The teacher was yammering on about something or another as Marinette continued to flip through. Her designer eye overtook her desire to ogle as she took mental note of fabrics and styles Gabriel Agreste had decided to make the forefront of winter fashion. There was a lacy suit, a bit of an odd choice, but on Adrien it looked effortless. And then she reached the underwear category.

Goddamn, the Agreste brand had _splurged_ on the models this time. Whatever strapping man had posed for the glossy black and white, artistic shots at the beginning of the section had clearly had his muscles carved by the gods themselves. Monsieur Agreste was strict when it came to how much skin his son could show in a shoot (loopholes were commonly found by photographers when the time came for swimwear shoots) and so Marinette knew there was no way the frankly steamy images were of her classmate.

At least, not _that_ classmate.

No sooner had she turned the page before the owner of the stunning body’s face finally looked up at her. And Marinette shrieked.

Everyone turned to look at her, the teacher pausing her explanation to frown.

“Is there a problem, Marinette?”

“Sorry,” Marinette said, hastening to slam the catalogue shut. “I thought I saw a spider.”

Ever so carefully, once everyone had gone back to doing their own thing, Marinette risked another peak. Yep, that was still without a doubt Peter Parker. Peter Parker with the rippling muscles, washboard abs, and…she wasn’t going to think about it.

“Did you know Peter did modelling?” Marinette hissed, sliding the spread over to Alya. Alya flipped through, eyebrows raising more and more with each passing second to the point where Marinette thought they might disappear into her hairline.

She said nothing, passing the catalogue down to Nino, who let out a low whistle. This seemed to draw Chloé’s attention, of all people, and she glared at Marinette from across the room. Unfortunately Mme. Bustier chose that moment to leave the room and Chloé decided to storm on over, snatching the book from Nino’s hands.

Marinette got the extreme pleasure of watching Chloé Bourgeois go through the seven stages of grief right in front of her, you know, minus the bit about acceptance and hope. But boy oh boy weren’t the other six a trip.

“ _Fuck_ Peter Parker!” She finally declared, stamping back to her seat, Marinette’s book still in her hands.

“Hey!” Marinette complained but couldn’t go after her as their teacher returned, prepared to continue her lecture.

By the time lunch came around, Marinette had resolved to put her pride aside and go get her catalogue back from Chloé. Alya gave her a look that said ‘ _are you sure you want to die today?’_ but Marinette had already made up her mind. She was a girl with a goal.

“Chloé!” She called out, catching up to the blonde by her locker.

Chloé slammed her locker shut so hard Marinette was surprised the whole row didn’t fall right over. “I know, I know, I fucked up. Will you stop _harassing_ me about it?”

Marinette blinked, completely unsure what had brought about this bout of ferocity from Chloé. Of course, she and Chloé weren’t usually on the best of terms, and Chloé often had gigantic mood swings, but this time seemed different. There was real emotion in Chloé’s eyes, and it wasn’t just anger.

“Sorry, I just came for my book,” Marinette said, pointing numbly at the catalogue that was still clenched firmly in Chloé’s hands.

“Take it.” Chloé roughly shoved the book into Marinette’s arms but she stood there, firmly rooted to the ground and staring at Chloé, considering.

“Well?” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Are you just going to stand there and stare at me or what? I gave you your stupid Parker shrine book, now get out of my face!”

“Are you and Peter…okay?” Marinette braved, daring to bridge the gap she’d always kept between her and Chloé. Chloé had never been nice to her, but the more time went on, the more Marinette was beginning to realize that little feuds were stupid, that it was time to leave these sorts of things in the past and put her best foot forward. And baby steps were key. Even if Chloé didn’t want to talk (and Marinette was kind of hoping she didn’t), it was a start. At least Marinette could say she tried.

“Why should you care?” Chloé’s tone had lost some of its venom as she walked around Marinette, sitting down on the locker room benches. Marinette had never even seen her so much as _touch_ those germ-ridden benches. Maybe it was a day of new experiences for all of them.

“Because, like it or not, we’ve all gotta look out for each other.” Marinette stood next to her and, after a moment’s hesitation, sat down too. “Sometimes you just need someone to talk to, and I know that would normally be Adrien or Sabrina or someone who isn’t me, and I know we don’t have the best track record but I’m willing to put all of that aside right now. There’s something going on and I don’t want you to go through it alone.”

Chloé pursed her lips, dragging the toe of her Chanel boots along the wooden floor. Marinette had always hated to admit it, but Chloé did have great fashion sense. It was one thing she’d always secretly wished they could connect over, even if they did seem to be sworn rivals.

Finally, Chloé spoke. “I completely, totally, utterly screwed things up with Peter.” She stared at her hands, picking at her perfectly manicured nails. “He was nice to me and I straight up rejected him.”

“…rejected him?” Marinette couldn’t help her first thought. _Had Peter asked Chloé out?_

“Not like that, Dupa- Marinette, although I wish you could see your own expression right now. No, Peter was actually nice to me, and not because he had to or we’d been friends forever or anything like that. He’s far too nice for his own good.” She took a deep breath, but Marinette didn’t cut in. Better to let Chloé talk, to get the whole story, before she shared her opinions.

“Adrien is friends with me because, for the longest time, I was quite literally his only friend. Now he’s just friends with me out of pity because now he’s the one with all the friends and I’ve got… well I guess I’ve got Sabrina. But Sabrina and I have never been normal friends. Sabrina is my friend because her dad is the chief of police and my dad’s the mayor. It’s in her blood to worship the ground I walk on, and I know you simply won’t believe me, but I _have_ tried to change that in the past. I tried to make it an equal friendship but Sabrina didn’t take to it. So instead she’s just been acting like an assistant of mine this whole time. She’d never disagree with something I said.

“And then there was Peter. He came at me with a no-nonsense approach, made it clear he didn’t give a damn _who_ my father was, and told me he wanted to be friends with me despite the fact I was a raging bitch to him. And we made a great team, for the heist. For once I wasn’t really caring what others thought of me and I was just having fun. So of course, obviously, the next time I saw him I had to screw it up.”

“Screw it up?” Marinette asked, thinking back to how Chloé had pulled Peter aside to speak to him that day before class, how they’d been in the classroom when she’d arrived, looking impassive as ever.

“I told him, quite plainly, that people like me weren’t friends with people like him. What I meant was that he’s smart, funny, strong, nice, and I’m awful! But of course it came out _mean_ and he took it as I don’t want to be friends with him. But I do. I really do. So I called him in New York and he got all mad at me which makes sense, but then I told him I’d talk to him on Monday and I have no idea what to say.”

Marinette thought for a moment. Chloé looked truly upset; the usual fire in her eyes had flickered out in favour of a burning sincerity. “Just tell him what you told me,” she said. “Peter appreciates honesty and he has a way of drawing it out of you. Just try not to get mad at him within the first few minutes and it should be alright. Make sure you tell him it was a misunderstanding and acknowledge his feelings.”

“…what?”

“You know…tell him you understand he’s upset and you would be too?”

“Oh, yeah, I can do that,” Chloé said, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. “I know you were just listening because you’re trying to get with Adrien and I’m his friend or whatever, but…thank you. You really didn’t have to waste your lunchtime sitting here with me.”

“No problem, I didn’t have any lunch plans anyways.” Marinette stood up too, clasping her hands behind her back. “And I’m actually not trying to get with Adrien anymore. I’ve got, uh, a boyfriend.”

“Really?” Chloé paused, looking her up and down, eyebrows raising. It was a look Marinette was used to, a look she’d regularly give people to size them up before going right for their insecurities. But this time, the look didn’t make her feel uncomfortable. “All this time I thought you only had eyes for Adrien.”

“I did, but then I realized I could barely bring myself to speak to him. I knew Adrien but I didn’t really _know_ him, you know? Seeing him hangout with Peter made that clear.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chloé snorted.

“Him and Peter are inseparable, they’ve got inside jokes that I couldn’t even imagine Adrien coming up with, and…and I don’t know! They’ve shown me that there’s a side of Adrien I couldn’t get to know if I was idolizing him. I’ve been under the impression that he was a shy, innocent boy, and now he’s anything but. I don’t know if that was Peter bringing it out or if I’d just never seen it before because I was terrified of looking him in the eye, but it showed me that I needed to get to know him first before I could say I liked him. Either way, I’m with someone else now, who I know inside in out and who knows _me_ the same way.”

“Shame,” Chloé shook her head.

“Shame?”

“I thought you and Adrien would be good together.”

Marinette felt her jaw drop, eyes staring dumbly. It was a good few moments before she got her wits about her enough to formulate a response. “Haven’t you actively been trying to keep me from interacting with him since the beginning?”

“Only when I was scared you were trying to keep us apart, and to my credit you were. It took me awhile to realize that you were looking for a different type of relationship with him than I was.”

“Welp!” Marinette shifted awkwardly. “Now you can go right ahead with whatever you were planning because I am no longer into Adrien like that. Go crazy.”

“I care about Adrien, but not like that.” Chloé gave her a small smile.

“No offence, but why did you suddenly stop being a…a…”

“You can say bitch, it’s fine.”

“You said it not me,” Marinette laughed slightly.

“Maybe you just stopped seeing me as a bitch. I’ve been working on myself for awhile, ironically inspired by the very person who now wants nothing to do with me. I also completely, and I mean _completely_ screwed up being Queen Bee and for the longest time I thought I was in the right there. But I wasn’t. And it took a lot of growth for me to get to a point where I could admit that. Maybe one day I’ll get the chance to tell Ladybug I’m sorry, but for now I guess you’ll do.”

And just like that, it was like the girl who’d teased Marinette her whole school career faded away, just leaving Chloé in her place. Sure, she was still sarcastic and brutally honest, but there was something beneath all that, too. Marinette didn’t know a lot about Chloé, nor had she ever tried to, but she’d caught glimpses of her rocky family life over the years. Everyone had their struggles, Marinette knew that, so why had she overlooked Chloé’s so easily?

“Chloé, can we choose to leave the past in the past?” She braved, holding her hand out as a sign of truce.

“I don’t shake hands,” Chloé, in true Chloé fashion, said. “But I’d like that. I can’t promise I’ll be an angel all the time, or that I won’t let my emotions get the best of me, but I can promise I’ll try.”

“It’s not about being an angel. It’s about being the best person you can be.”

“Thank you, Marinette.” Marinette braced herself for the ‘Dupain-Cheng’ that usually followed her name when it came from Chloé, but it didn’t come. Instead, Chloé walked out of the locker room, off to carry on with her life, leaving Marinette to go about hers.

And in some ways, nothing would change. And in others, nothing would ever be the same.

Chat was back on patrols the next evening, Spiderman by his side. But Marinette decided to be mischievous, to not concern herself with Chat just yet, instead turning to Spidey. She was in a good mood that night, and good moods always made her want to tease.

“Have a nice trip?” She asked, grinning up at him.

“Oh yeah,” Spidey replied, catching onto her little game instantly. “Always good to be back in the old neighbourhood, swinging around and catching up with the-”

“Forgetting someone, My Lady?” Chat interjected in an affronted tone.

“I was asking Spiderman how he enjoyed his trip.”

“You know what, fine! Two can play that game. Please, Spidey, tell us _everything_.” Chat popped out his baton, leaning against it and fixing Spiderman with an expression of exaggerated interest.

“I’d be glad to. Every morning, I awoke to the national anthem, ‘Party in the USA’ by Miley Cyrus, ironed my New York Mets jersey, wandered down to the nearest hot dog stand and got a hot dog for breakfast. Then I’d get on the nice, clean subway without nearly dying and head on upstate to Avenger’s headquarters.”

Marinette got the feeling he was mocking them, but she honestly didn’t know enough about the United States and their customs to debate. The ‘Party in the USA’ bit didn’t _quite_ seem true, but then again, she didn’t actually know the national anthem. It could very well be. Was that something that changed with the presidency?

“Okay, I’ve heard enough,” Chat said. “As you might be aware, I’ve been away from Ladybug for a great many days, and I think we’ve earned some alone time.”

“Great idea,” Spidey said. “Matter of fact my new ‘manager’ has been repeatedly requesting to call me for the past thirty minutes. I’m going to kill him.”

“If you kill him, I don’t think you get to be a hero anymore,” Chat pointed out, snickering.

“Well now, Chat Noir, I don’t think that would be too much of a grievance! Honestly, I think I’ll be doing the world a favour! He’s already booked me sixteen – _sixteen –_ press conferences for this coming week alone! I’m going to be repeating myself at each and every one. There’s honest to god only so much a human being can pull out their ass before they start to get the runs.”

Spiderman left that little analogy to hang in the air as he raced off into the night, and Marinette could hear him saying, “Hello? What have I told you about calling me every second of the day? You’ve booked a _what?_ For _when_? You know what….” Before the rest was lost to the wind.

“Seems like a good night for patrol,” Chat commented in a news announcer’s voice, baton shrinking as he returned it to its place behind his back. “Bit of wind, might slow things down, but it’s otherwise looking good weather-wise. I’d say-”

“Chat, are you going to kiss me or not?” Marinette interrupted, an amused smile playing at her lips.

“My Lady!” He placed a dramatic hand over his heart. “So forward! Don’t you know we have a patrol to be doing? No canoodling until after our due diligence as heroes!” He took off, cackling manically to himself.

 _Nothing like being cockblocked by your own boyfriend,_ Marinette thought as she started her own patrols. Not that she’d intended on doing anything cock-related. Honestly! But a hello kiss would’ve been nice. After all, he’d been gone for like, four days. Four long days that Marinette had had to spend all to herself. She’d showed up with the intention of teasing him, not the other way round.

“You’re getting slow,” Chat said when she finally arrived in the park.

“I had lots to think about,” Marinette lied, toes daintily landing in the cold grass. “Namely, what I was going to do to you when I got back here.”

“Do…to me?” Chat’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped.

“Wrong phrasing,” she laughed. “Say to you?”

“You’ve got something to say to me?” Chat tilted his head, confused, as Ladybug got more and more flustered.

“No! I mean yes! I mean… shut up.” She folded her arms across her chest, letting out a small sound of discontent.

Chat let out a ringing laugh, a sound reminiscent of joyful church bells, wrapping his arms around her. “I missed you, Buginette.”

“If you’re going to make fun of me, then your sentiments are not returned,” Marinette mumbled into his chest, but it was difficult to pretend to be annoyed when he gave her the best hugs, the smell of his cologne almost definitely getting in her hair. Not that she minded. Some of the best nights were the ones where she went home smelling of him.

“Were there any akuma attacks while I was gone?” Chat asked, fingers running through the ends of her ponytails. Marinette reached up, almost subconsciously, pulling them out of their ribbons to allow him easier access.

“Surprisingly, no. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you or Spiderman were the Papillon, except that’s literally absurd.”

“I can vouch for Spiderman; man is _way_ too obsessed with the philosophical implications of all of his actions to do any actual evil. As for me, I’ve got an award-winning smile and super awesome biceps so it definitely can’t be me.” He pulled away from her to flash her one of his signature grins.

“Because all supervillains are ugly,” Marinette rolled her eyes, dancing away from him.

“Nah, I can’t be the Papillon. I can barely handle one kwami, let alone two.”

“Chat, not ever have I thought that you were the Papillon. Calm down.”

“Just gotta make sure. Now come back, I didn’t get my hello kiss.”

“I thought you didn’t want one, something about due diligence, if I remember corr- mmph!” Marinette’s sentence was rather cut off by her boyfriend more or less swallowing her face. He pecked quick kisses all over her face before settling back on her lips, rocking his whole body forwards.

“I missed you,” he breathed, pulling back to rest his forehead against hers.

“I missed you too, you stupid cat.”

“I can’t wait,” Chat said, causing her to pause.

“Wait for what?”

“Until I can tell you who I am.” He blinked at her, like it should’ve been obvious. Ah, so they were back on that subject again. Why was it that every time things were going good, he had to ruin it by bringing up this subject, as though talking about it more would somehow make it less taboo?

“We can’t, Chat, what are you saying?” Marinette stepped back, running a hand through her own hair.

“Once we defeat the Papillon, there will be nothing stopping us,” he said it like it was easy, like it was a natural conclusion for one to reach.

“What if the Papillon isn’t the only supervillain we have to defeat?”

“Then I’ll defeat whoever else we need to. It’s okay, I know some day I’m going to be with you. And not just like this.” He gestured between them. “Whatever it takes to be with you.”

“Chat, we shouldn’t make promises we can’t keep,” Marinette said, head beginning to spin. Why, _why_ was he bringing this up?

“Okay, but here’s the thing. I’ve been studying Spiderman for awhile, and I think he’s figured something out. I don’t know what it is just yet, but he’s figured _something_ out that we don’t know about. Maybe he knows how to defeat the Papillon!”

Maybe that was the thing Master Fu and Spiderman had been so secretive about. What was it that Spiderman had said when he’d burst in?

_“I’ve found him.”_

He’d found him. Her stomach dropped.

A few things became very clear to Marinette in that moment. Firstly, Master Fu and Spiderman were keeping a potentially dangerous secret from Chat and herself. Secondly, they were both betraying her trust in its entirety. Thirdly, the most horrific of it all.

Spiderman knew the identity of the Papillon.

“Come on.” Marinette grabbed Chat’s hand, determinedly storming out of the park.

“Uh, where are we going?” Chat asked, confused by her sudden change in demeanour.

“We’re going to speak to the Guardian of the Miraculous. He’s been playing a very dangerous game.”

* * *

After a rather long phone conversation with Felix that Peter would’ve entirely preferred to opt out of, he landed back in his room, shedding his suit and flopping down on the couch before realizing he wasn’t alone. In fact, he wasn’t sure how he had managed to ignore the person who was now in his room, back to him.

“Um,” Peter braved, prompting the person to turn, and Peter’s brain ceased to function.

A young woman with long, dark brown hair that ended in silver tips faced him. Her skin was a warm brown, contrasted by a familiar orange gem that was set in her forehead. Massive, fiery wings spread out behind her. All this disaster was really just wrapped up by the fact that she was completely naked.

“Being human is fucking annoying,” she declared, taking a rather wobbly step forwards, holding her arms out in an attempt to balance.

“ _Suluu_?” Peter said incredulously, determinedly gluing his eyes to her face.

“Shape-shifting _is_ one of my powers, you simple bitch. You miraculous holders don’t get to have all the fun. We kwamis can use our own powers, it just usually turns out a bit more potent than we’d previously intended.”

“Can I inquire as to _why_ you chose to turn into a human female and stand naked in my room?” Peter asked, now staring at an extremely interesting article of clothing in his closet in the loft. He was _not_ going to look at his now-human kwami while she was naked. It just felt wrong on so many levels.

“Well, after all that travelling, I wanted to stretch my spine and the best way to stretch it would be to turn human, naturally, so I did that, but it’s really something different to be human when you’ve never- eep!” Suluu interrupted herself by falling flat on her face as she tried to take another step, her wings frantically flapping to bring herself back up. Peter glanced back in her direction at the noise instinctively but quickly looked away again.

“Okay, well can you _please_ just… I don’t know! Get on with it and turn back into your usual kwami self?”

“You’re putting pressure on me!” Suluu covered her ears with her hands. “I can’t do anything if you’re yelling at me!”

“I’m not yelling, it’s just kind of awkward sitting here when my kwami could turn into literally anything yet she chooses to turn into a hot ass woman!” Peter tilted off the side of the couch and crashed to the floor before he could stop himself, but decided to resign himself to his fate.

“This is classified as hot ass?” Peter could see Suluu check out her own derrière in his peripherals.

“No, I mean! You know what, this is weird. I’m not having this conversation. Change back!”

“O-kay!” Suluu yelled back, wings fluttering anxiously as she closed her eyes and screwed up her face in concentration. “It’s not working!”

“Well what’s going to make it work? I can’t very well have you sitting there with all your wings and gem in forehead and being naked forever!”

“I need soup or something,” Suluu said. “I haven’t eaten since the spicy rice at May’s house and as a human it is definitely taking effect.”

“Wait here, I’ll go grab you some.”

“Nuh uh uh.” Suluu held out a hand to stop him as Peter got up from the floor. “Hold it right there. I go with you, remember? Need I remind you that we’re currently in the same house as two supervillains?”

“Two supervillains who I’m sure would be _very_ interested to know why I currently have a woman who looks twenty-something and has wings and interesting head jewellery in my bedroom.”

“I’ll wear some of your clothes!”

“Suluu, that will look _worse_.”

“Why.” She planted her hands on her hips, seemingly determined to stare him down until he relented. “Why would that look worse, Peter?”

“Fine. I’ll grab you some stupid clothes. I don’t know if they’ll fit though, I’m a twig.”

A few moments of Peter pointedly looking away later, Suluu was dressed in a hat, a baggy sweater, and a pair of athletic shorts.

“Can you walk?” Peter folded his arms across his chest, watching as Suluu did her very best to stumble forwards.

“I’ll just move my wings under the sweater and then just glide. If someone comes into the room, I’ll just stand. It’ll be easy.”

With a gnawing sense of dread, like a prisoner to their last meal, Peter lead Suluu down to the kitchen, doing his absolute best to stay quiet. And for the most part, all was well. Suluu boiled the water with a simple touch of her hand and Peter began to make the soup until he remembered that it was almost midnight. And Nathalie would surely be on the prowl.

“Eat!” Peter said hurriedly, forcing the pot into Suluu’s hands. “Fast!”

But it was all in vain. He could hear the soft click-click of Nathalie’s heels as they made their way to the kitchen.

“On the floor, on the floor!” Peter said.

“Okay, okay, I’m done,” Suluu hissed, setting down on her feet and just in time as Nathalie opened the door to the kitchen.

“Mr. Parker?” Nathalie’s eyes landed on Peter first, before they slid to Suluu. Peter could see her taking in Suluu’s appearance, the fact that she was wearing his clothes…and the fact that Suluu couldn’t walk properly as she tip-toed gingerly over to the sink to place the pot in it. “I wasn’t aware you were having a guest.”

“I wasn’t aware either,” Peter said. “In fact, Suzanne was just about to leave. Weren’t you Suz? She came over to do some homework but then we kind of lost track of time.”

“Would you like me to drive her home?” Nathalie said curtly, giving him the most dangerous look he’d ever seen on her face.

“No, no,” Peter waved her off. “She doesn’t live too far, I’ll walk her home.” His heart was pounding in his ears as he lead Suluu to the front entrance, opened the door, and sent Suluu on out with a pointed glare.

They made their way out the gate and down the street before Peter rounded on her.

“What the _fuck_ , Su? You better transform back and _now._ ”

“Sorry!” Tongues of flame engulfed Suluu’s body and a moment later, returned to kwami form, she flew into the air, Peter’s clothes landing on the pavement.

“How about we never do that again?” Peter said, grabbing his clothes and engaging his web shooters before swinging back up into his room. “Especially in a house with two supervillains, that was way too risky.”

“I’ve never tried it before, I thought it would be easier to switch back, sorry.” Suluu settled down on the bed, wings drooping.

“I’m not mad,” Peter said, hanging his clothes back up. “I’m just worried about what Nathalie is going to say to me.”

“Why are you worried? You’re Spiderman,” Suluu’s large eyes searched his face.

“Being Spiderman doesn’t mean I can just get out of anything.” He changed into his pyjamas, listening for any sounds of Adrien in the next room. “Did Adrien not come back yet?”

“I don’t hear him,” Suluu said, zipping across the room and phasing through the wall, returning a few seconds later. “Don’t see him either.”

“Why do I have a feeling he’s getting himself into trouble?” Peter leaned against the door jam that lead into the bathroom. His spidey sense had subsided while he was in New York but it was now back in full force. Maybe it was a side effect of living under the Papillon’s roof, or maybe it was a sign that something big was coming, Peter didn’t know the difference. He toyed with the idea of renting out a hotel room, just for the night. Something about the night felt off, a slight edge to the air he breathed. His own paranoia was becoming almost taxing.

“I’m not going to be able to sleep,” Peter told Suluu as he returned from the bathroom.

“I feel it too,” Suluu said. “I think it’s best if you don’t.”

They exchanged a glance and the next moment Peter’s face was being covered by his mask before they both headed out into the night.

* * *

Adrien had never seen the building they stood in front of before in his life. It was a nondescript massage parlour, not one he would’ve tagged as containing the secrets of the miraculous. But Ladybug had no qualms as she rapped firmly on the door.

No one answered for a good few minutes and Adrien was beginning to feel stupid.

“My Lady, are you sure this is the right place?” No sooner had the words left his mouth than the door flew open to reveal a dark interior. A few streets away, a police siren went off.

“Come on,” Ladybug said, stepping inside.

The door swung shut behind them, and all the hairs on the back of Adrien’s neck seemed to stand straight up. Something was wrong.

“Master Fu?” Ladybug called out tentatively. Out of the shadows drew Master Fu, clutching a black box to his chest.

“You two should not have come here,” Master Fu said, looking between them. “Something odd is stirring.”

“Something sinister,” Adrien breathed. He’d only spoken to the Guardian a handful of times before, and knew that Master Fu viewed Chat Noir as rather reckless and irresponsible. But this time he was looking at him in a way Adrien never wanted to be looked at. A mixture of fear and understanding was inscribed on his face.

“Do you feel it, Ladybug?” Master Fu stared at Ladybug who was gripping onto Adrien’s arm. She couldn’t see in the pitch black, he knew, and could only hear Master Fu’s disembodied voice.

“I didn’t, but now you two are starting to creep me out.”

“You two should stay the night, I’m not sure the world will be safe tonight,” Master Fu said, adjusting his curtains to make sure no light was let in.

“Do you know what is happening?” Adrien whispered.

“I wish I could know with certainty,” Master Fu said. “I can just feel that whatever is going on out there is beyond our scope.”

“Let me in!” A banging came at the door and Adrien leapt into the air, his stomach leaping into his throat.

“That’s Spiderman!” Adrien said. “I recognize his voice!”

“Wait.” Master Fu moved around him and Ladybug, moving to peer out the door. “Spiderman, how can I be sure that’s really you.”

“The basement,” Spiderman’s low voice could be heard through the door.

Apparently that answer was good enough for Master Fu and he opened the door, letting Spiderman in, hastily shutting the door behind him.

“Spiderman?” Ladybug said. “What’s going on out there?”

“Thank god you two are safe. I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s weird.” Spiderman slid to the floor, burying his head in between his knees. “People are just out, roaming the streets, in some sort of trance. It could be the Papillon’s doing, but I don’t know how. There’s no villain that I can see mesmerizing people or anything.”

Adrien moved to try and look out the window but Master Fu held out an arm to stop him.

“Spiderman, did you notice anything out of the ordinary besides the people?”

“No, that’s what’s scaring me. Why weren’t you effected? Maybe I can’t be effected because of my DNA and Ladybug and Chat Noir are transformed, but why aren’t you out there with everyone else?” He peered at Master Fu.

“This building has many enchantments on it,” Master Fu said. “But Spiderman, I think you should get Helios and take care of this.”

“What about us?” Adrien said, suddenly insulted to be left out. “If Helios can go out, then we should be able to too.”

“I’m not sure I want to,” Ladybug said softly. “We don’t even know if this is the Papillon’s doing. Who knows what’s going on.”

“I’ll go,” Spiderman stood up. “I’ll go get Helios and I’ll see what he can do. If he needs your help, I’ll call.” He carefully stood up, slipping out the door before anyone could protest.

And so they stood, in complete darkness, no one daring to speak, lest they break the silence. Adrien didn’t know how his night had gone from teasing Ladybug to the sort of fear that only comes from unknowing, but here he was.

No one even moved until the civil defence system went off. The alarm had never sounded more deafening in the silent streets.

“What’s happening?” Ladybug all but sobbed. Adrien wanted to respond, but he couldn’t. His baton was blinking, a text alert on it. He didn’t want to open it.

**[ worse than thought send backup ]**

**[ sentimonster ]**

**[ giant wolf ]**

**[ Mayura nearby ]**

**[ people are injured ]**

“Helios needs us,” Adrien said, looking down at Ladybug and showing her the message. “Should we go?”

“It’s our duty to protect, is it not?” Ladybug said, steeling her resolve. “Let’s go.”

“Be careful,” Master Fu said. “Helios is the only other backup you’ll have.”

“That dude is crazy powerful,” Adrien said, giving Ladybug a reassuring smile. “We’ll be fine.” And so they left the massage shop, Adrien glanced back at the dark interior. The long shadows of the quiet night seemed to leave the darkness rather blacker than before.

His first thought as they stepped out into the street was that everything was very much _not_ fine. It was as Spiderman had described; people were wandering the streets, empty, blank expressions on their faces. None seemed to have any particular direction, but the second Chat Noir and Ladybug stepped into their midst, their faces turned to grimaces, beginning a sluggish walk towards them.

“Uhhh, My Lady?” Adrien said timidly. “What’s the plan?”

“Fine Helios, I guess. We find him, we find the sentimonster.”

The duo took off into the air, avoiding the hands of the small crowd below that tried to grab at their ankles.

Helios was not a difficult person to find. His glowing lasso made it rather easy, as was his flashy costume. The text Spidey had sent hadn’t done the situation justice; the giant wolf was like a hound from hell, about the size of a building with teeth bigger than Adrien and glowing red eyes. It was not the sort of hound mortal eyes had ever seen. Mayura was atop a nearby building, surveying the scene.

In fact, Helios looked like a bug compared to the sheer size of the dog.

“What can we do to help?” Adrien asked, landing next to Helios, who barely even glanced at him. He seemed to have his hands full with shoving civilians out of the way in his pursuit of the hellhound. Even so, there was a light in his eyes that spoke louder than words.

“Someone go after Mayura,” he said gruffly, flinging his lasso towards the dog. “She’s controlling it directly but she’s weak. If someone can take her down or distract her, this sentimonster will be that much easier to stop.”

“I got her,” Ladybug volunteered. “You two have destructive powers, you’ll be better at taking down this thing than I am.”

“Amok’s in the collar,” Helios said as soon as Ladybug had raced off, zipping above the dazed civilians’ heads. “I’ve been trying to keep the civilians away but it’s difficult. I don’t know what’s manipulating them, I just know it’s turned them into brain dead zombies. Doesn’t help that the dog tries to eat me every time I get close.”

“Do you have a game plan to get the collar?”

“You could call it that,” Helios muttered. “But my kwami recently reminded me of a power today I have yet to try out. Perhaps my phoenix song could pull these people out of their daze.”

Helios looked away and Adrien followed his gaze. Ladybug was fighting Mayura atop the building and, as they watched, used her lucky charm. It usually wasn’t a good sign when she used it this early in the battle, and Adrien watched as something long and thin fell into her hands.

“She doesn’t know what to do with it,” he yelled over the wolf’s snarls as it neared them. Ladybug’s face was screwed up in concentration as she looked around, dodging Mayura as she did so.

“I do,” Helios said. “Distract the dog. I’ve got something to do.” He leapt impossibly high into the air, casting out his lasso and zipping towards Ladybug.

Leaving Adrien to face off against the giant dog. He wasn’t a fan of dogs, cats were far more his forte, and this giant mutt was just another strike against dogs in his mind.

“Uh…good puppy?” He attempted, doing his best to sound brave as the dog learned down at him.

It growled in return, snapping its massive jaws at him. So Adrien did the only thing he could think to do. He jumped, flipping through the air, and landed on the dog’s back. It was a mistake.

The dog’s hairs grew longer, wrapping around his ankles and trapping him to its back. What the _fuck_ hell kinda dog was this?

“Helios! Ladybug!” Adrien couldn’t waste his cataclysm on this, he had to save it for the collar if Helios had other uses for his phoenix powers rather than the incineration he’d used to destroy things in the past.

But when Mayura landed in front of him, Adrien was beginning to think he had no other choice.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself in a sticky situation, kitty,” she cooed, voice honeyed as she slowly approached. Ladybug landed on his shoulders, having assessed the selectively ensnaring hairs from afar. Adrien was glad at least one of them was intelligent.

“Take one more step, Mayura, and it’ll be the last thing you do,” she threatened, swinging her yoyo at her side.

“Where’s Helios?” Adrien whispered to her.

“No idea, I had to go retransform. He said he knew what to do with the lucky charm”

Just then, over the very same civilian defence system that had issued the warning came the telltale sounds of the phoenix song, this time a short, shrill melody that felt like it reached right into Adrien’s soul, grabbed it, and thrust it back into him as hard as possible.

It seemed to have the intended effect on the civilians, as Adrien could now hear them screaming and running away. Only, they weren’t just running from the dog.

Helios descended from the sky, but Adrien wouldn’t have been able to tell it was Helios still if not for his suit. Giant, gold wings stretched the width of the street, bringing him to a landing in front of Adrien. His skin was no longer just that; large scales, like a suit of armour, covered every inch of him that wasn’t already protected by his suit. The dog’s hairs tried to latch around his ankles, but they failed to find purchase, just sliding off, as though the suit was covered in a thin layer of oil.

“I MacGyver’d that bitch!” Helios said exuberantly, sending Ladybug and Adrien a beaming yet odd smile before turning to face Mayura. “New game plan. I’ll get the collar, pass it to Chat, Chat cataclysms it, Ladybug uses her lucky charm, then I take Mayura for a little joyride.”

Mayura hesitated. Adrien could still the the frayed fabric from where Helios’s rope had burned through her suit the last time. Despite the fact Helios had clearly outlined their plan in front of her, she had no idea how to act.

But Helios didn’t give her any time for consideration. He flapped his wings, the force sending her flying backwards, and he flew through the air, zooming past the dog’s gnashing teeth to reach the collar. The dog bit him, but it didn’t seem to be able to penetrate his scales. And a dog that big couldn’t move fast. The most it could do was stamp in place and attempt to throw him, but that did not dissuade Helios.

“Chat!” Helios called, flinging the giant collar in Adrien’s direction.

“Cataclysm!” Adrien cried in response, raising his hand before the giant collar could crash into him and Ladybug.

“Miss Lady, your lucky charm,” Helios dropped it over their heads as he flew off, golden rope snatching up Mayura and disappearing off onto the horizon with a powerful flap of his wings.

Ladybug caught the charm as the collar dissolved around them, releasing both an amok and an akuma which she readily purified. The dog shrunk until it was just a puppy, sitting on the pavement and staring up at them.

Adrien and Ladybug exchanged a look. Could the Papillon akumatize animals now? Had he always been able to do that?

A family came rushing out of the crowd to collect it as Ladybug restored everything to normal, her magic ladybugs fixing the scene as they usually did. And yet Helios did not reappear.

“How did they get hypnotized in the first place?” Adrien asked Ladybug. She usually had a better sense of how things worked than him, but this time she seemed stumped too.

“The Papillon is finally picking up his game, it seems. Maybe it was part of the akuma’s powers? Since it’s a literal dog, we don’t know what its motivations were. We don’t know anything.”

“Hey, but at least we saved Paris again!” Adrien attempted his best Chat Noir smile, holding up his fist. “Bien joué!”

Ladybug returned it, but she looked thoughtful. “We don’t even know where Helios took Mayura. I wonder what he’s doing with her.”

* * *

Two flaps of Peter’s wings brought him and Mayura all the way to Le Havre at the edge of the English Channel. He didn’t hesitate to drop her on the beach, well aware of the way the flames on his anklet were gradually reaching their demise.

Maybe it was because he was suited as Helios and now possessed Suluu’s senses, or maybe he was just adjusting more, but he now knew what Helios had been talking about, that one time they’d found Gabriel’s secret lair.

 _‘I can sense it on her, the foreboding of death’,_ Suluu had said. And now Peter could tell what she meant. It wasn’t so much that Nathalie looked sickly in her suit, much was hidden beneath her purple skin. But he could smell it on her, feel it on her, the draining of her life force at its root. Something about her just felt _weak._ The world was full of obvious things which nobody by chance ever observed, and this felt like a moment where fate intervened to open his eyes. He had given people chances in the past, allowed them to make their own choices, but when did the ability to choose descend into mocking cruelty? When did he have to draw the line and step in?

“You have to stop this,” he said, landing heavily beside her, scales clinking. “It’s killing you.”

Mayura panted up at him, brows knit tightly. “You know nothing of which you speak, Helios.”

“I know who you are, Nathalie Sancoeur. I know who you work for, I know the miraculous is damaged, and I know this isn’t the way to make him love you.” His statement left her staring at him, face morphing into an expression of horror. He’d hit it right on the mark. Of course, he’d had his suspicions, but looking at her now, it was confirmed. Nathalie had fallen in love with her employer. One who was doomed to never love her in return. After all his talk of choices, this was Peter’s chance to make one. Save Nathalie from an untimely fate, or let her continue to kill herself and commit evil? He knew what he had to do.

“What are you going to do to me?” She managed, struggling to sit up in the sand.

“For now?” Peter leaned forwards, hand reaching towards her neck. “I’ll be taking this.”

He pulled the peacock brooch off her, closing his fist around it. Mayura’s transformation fell around her, leaving her just as Nathalie once more, coughing.

“You can’t do this,” she croaked. “You can’t leave me here.”

“Then prove to me that your intentions are pure, prove to me that you’re good at heart and I’ll take you back.” Peter pulled his rope out, and it wrapped around her wrist. Barely a second passed before she let out a shriek, the rope beginning to burn her.

Peter retracted, it, crouching in preparation to take off. “That’s just what I thought,” he said, then launched himself off into the night.

As soon as he’d landed back in his bedroom, Peter let his transformation fall, passing Suluu a cinnamon candy.

“What are you going to do with the peacock miraculous?” Suluu asked, apparently not too tired after the night’s activities.

“Fix it,” Peter said simply. He hadn’t given too much thought to it, nor did he quite know how, but the best way to figure it out was to try first.

He reached into his bag, pulling out a long metal strip that he clunked down on his desk, taking a seat in his chair and placing the cracked miraculous in front of him. “Okay Su, how are these things made?”

Suluu flitted over, hovering in front of the brooch for a moment before speaking. “They’re made up of thousands of tiny little fibres, all different materials designed to best hold the magic. In order to fix it, you’re going to have to reattach all of them.”

“Great.” Peter cracked his back before tapping the metal strip. Two robotic arms rose from it, poised above the miraculous. “Looks like I’m not getting any sleep tonight. This baby is time-sensitive.”

After carefully arranging the miraculous so that it wouldn’t move when the robotic arms touched it, Peter called upon his Spiderman mask, letting it cover his face and send him into augmented reality. Two gloves appeared on his screen display and Peter put his hands in them, calling up an extremely magnified image of the miraculous. It was time to operate, brain surgeon style, on the tiny piece of jewellery.

Lucky for him, his internal computer classified all the materials for him, labelling various strands of copper, silver, tungsten, and others. It was slow going as the robot replicated his actions, carefully retrieving two sides of the same fibre and fusing them together, but it was getting done. After all, a phoenix holder had been one to break it, so it was only fitting a phoenix holder was the one to fix it.

Some time around nine the next morning Adrien entered the room, probably wondering why Peter had missed breakfast, but there he was, still working on the miraculous, in his own little world, just about half done.

“Peter?” Adrien called tentatively, snapping Peter out of his trance.

“What’s up?” Peter turned to him, suddenly becoming very aware of how tired he was. And hungry. In fact, he was practically falling apart at the seams and the only thing keeping him together was his drive to fix the miraculous.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, Helios gave me the peacock miraculous after last night’s kerfuffle and I’m just trying to fix it before I give it back to the Guardian.”

“You’re what?” Adrien blinked, carefully shutting the door behind himself and creeping closer.

“It’s broken, so I’m fixing it.”

“How’d he get it off Mayura?” Adrien watched as Peter returned to his work, tiny sparks flying off the robot as it applied heat to the metals within.

“I’m assuming he took it,” Peter replied through gritted teeth as he struggled to extract a particularly difficult strand. The work helped him avoid reacting to Adrien’s statements. He had to pretend he knew nothing, it was better that way for all of them. 

“So he knows her identity?”

“Presumably.”

“You know, Ladybug is under the impression that you know something you’re not telling us.”

“She’s right.” Peter cursed under his breath as a spark flew towards him, singeing his shirt.

“What?”

With a sigh, Peter sent his masking away, turning to face Adrien. “I know a lot that neither you nor Ladybug are prepared to know. The knowledge you garner by your own volition is more often than not free. The price is paid later down the road, not for what you learn, but for what you know. And right now, neither of you can pay that price.”

“Will you tell me eventually? When I need to know?”

“One day, I’ll tell you everything. But for now, the less you know, the better. You just have to trust me on this.”

“I do, Peter. I do.”

It was at least a good few hours before Peter was done. Adrien came and went, occasionally bringing snacks and water to keep Peter’s energy up. Nathalie, apparently, was taking a ‘personal day’. The first personal day Adrien had ever seen her take, and he told Peter as much. Peter had the tiniest of inklings it might have something to do with her being dropped off in Le Havre in the early hours of the morning and stripped of one of her employer’s most worldly possessions.

“And now, the final test,” Peter said dramatically, holding up the fixed miraculous.

“You’re not going to use it, are you?” Adrien looked at him with worry in his eyes. Yes, that had been Peter’s original plan, but now he could see how that might be a bad one, especially if he’d somehow made it worse instead of fixing it.

“Nah, I’ll just suit up, push pure energy through it, then get the energy signature reading off it. If it’s fixed, the energy shouldn’t leave the miraculous.”

He proceeded to do just that, hoping and praying that it would work. Really, it was no loss to him if it didn’t, minus the hours he’d spent on it, but something deep within wanted to fix it. It had been a moment where he could choose to do nothing or do something and he was giving it his all to do something.

And it worked. The miraculous absorbed the energy, leaving nothing left save a slowly grinning Peter and a dumbstruck Adrien. Pushing his equipment to the side and dispelling his suit, Peter carefully lifted the miraculous up into the weak light late fall brings, peering at it as though he could see the secrets it possessed.

“Just like new.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoohoohoo M. Papillon is NOT gonna be psyched to learn that Helios stole his miraculous teehee also this marks the start of the Chloé Bourgeois Redemption Arc ™️ And I could not be more excited!! I got some major drama planned for these coming chapters ;)
> 
> Anyways, see you all next week!!!


	17. Jouer au Chat et à la Souris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEXUAL CONTENT - Viewer discretion is advised.   
> In order to include as many readers as possible, it is at the very end of the chapter. If you’re looking to avoid this sort of content, stop reading at the ‘****’. This chapter is a little longer than usual so that those wishing to skip can have a regular chapter length and everything else is just bonus. Happy trails :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way this chapter doesn’t have a single kwami in it 😔

Adrien wasn’t sure what he was waiting for as he hesitated on the street outside the massage shop, bundled up against the late November chill. Peter had given him a simple mission: return the peacock miraculous while got some much-needed sleep. Both him and Peter had pulled an all nighter but Adrien had actually slept when he returned home. Peter had stayed up working on fixing the miraculous.

Speaking of, Adrien had no idea how he’d done it. It was flawless, perfect once more, like it had never even been broken in the first place. It was like everything Peter touched he made whole again, and the miraculous was no exception. 

He couldn’t help wondering specifically how Helios had obtained the peacock miraculous. Mayura didn’t seem to be the type of person who would go down without a fight, yet Helios had picked her up and swooped off like it was nothing. The guy seemed to be a seasoned fighter, almost like he’d been in similar situations before, but it was impossible to tell. Adrien had to assume that Ladybug at least knew Helios’s identity but the hero seemed to choose to remain an enigma. He only ever showed up when they were in dire need and seemed to work closely with Spiderman, although Peter denied knowing anything about the dude.

And so, hoping for answers, Adrien raised a fist and rapped once against the door.

Master Fu opened it, confirming once and for all that the events of the night prior hadn’t been a chaotic dream. This was Master Fu’s residence, and everyone had known it except Adrien. Why was he always the last one to know?

 _Except you know Spidey’s identity,_ his brain rationalized. _Ladybug doesn’t know that._ He couldn’t bring himself to be mad, not at Master Fu, not at Ladybug, and definitely not at Spiderman.

“Adrien?” Master Fu asked, bringing him back to the present. “Can I help you?”

“We’d better do this inside,” Adrien replied, casting a paranoid glance down the street. Ever since the night before he’d felt off, the brainwashed people still in the back of his mind. Paris was no longer his playground – the evil that had prevailed so quickly had shown him that.

As soon as Master Fu let him in, Adrien wasted no time in handing him the miraculous. Truth be told he was glad to be rid of it. Mayura’s dark energy still seemed to linger around it, causing the tiny brooch to feel heavy. It was the one thing Peter hadn’t seemed to be able to dispel, or perhaps it was simply Adrien’s mind playing tricks on him.

“Is this…?” Master Fu turned it over in his hands, rapping a finger against its surface like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Helios fought Mayura. None of us saw it but he managed to get her miraculous back.”

“But it’s fixed.”

“You can thank Spiderman for that one.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Master Fu was fixing him with the most curious of expressions but he got the feeling the look wasn’t _about_ him, just at him. It was a look of disbelief and curiosity.

“Does Peter Parker have magic powers? Or any knowledge of ancient magic?” Oh, so Master Fu knew Spiderman’s identity too. It was fine, Adrien wasn’t bitter about being left out in the slightest. Not at all.

“Not that I know of.” Adrien tried not to let his emotions show on his face – a skill he’d mastered in all his years of dealing with his father – as Master Fu continued to inspect the miraculous. “He just fixed it with some robotic arms or some other sort of Stark tech. Kinda like a welder or something.”

“How did he learn to fix a miraculous without magic? Even I’m not sure how that would work. This handiwork is akin to the way the original miraculous were made. In order to recreate a miraculous, one must know what materials it is made up of, something even I don’t know, along with how they are woven together to support magic.” Master Fu walked over to a gramophone, pressing buttons on its front, the flat top spinning to reveal the miraculous box.

“I, uh,” Adrien said, losing his train of thought slightly as Master Fu opened it up, carefully placing the miraculous in a slot on the top before closing the whole thing back up. “I don’t think Peter simply doesn’t not know how to do things. He always seems to figure it out.”

“He has a miraculous knack of landing on his feet, now doesn’t he?”

“He’s a miraculous Spiderman, yeah,” Adrien mumbled into his collarbone.

“What was that?” Master Fu glanced at him, pausing his pursuit of a whistling kettle.

“Nothing, I was just agreeing,” Adrien said. “Actually I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

“And I to you. Tea?”

“Um…sure?” Adrien took a seat on the floor as the tiny man poured him a steaming cup of tea, handing it to him with an odd smile.

“I believe I should begin, and if your queries still stand by the end of my spiel, feel free to pursue them with me. Firstly, I haven’t been very open with you, Chat Noir, by no fault of your own.”

This was news to Adrien. He knew Ladybug seemed to be the favourite but he’d always presumed that was a side effect of her being about a million times more responsible than him. But to hear that Master Fu had somehow closed him off because of something Adrien obviously had no control over? Adrien didn’t know what to think.

“You see, Adrien, you are an essential part to this whole puzzle,” he continued. “There will be a choice you will have to make that will decide the outcome of this whole situation. I thought that withdrawing from you was the best option, but I have been forced to see error in my ways. I made a promise to Spiderman to start being more open with you and I admit that his logic is considerably more sound and thought out than my own. He reminded me that one cannot simply guess what another might choose in the future and that by keeping you in the dark I was designing my own downfall.”

So both Peter and Master Fu had gotten together to talk about Adrien behind his back about a decision Adrien would have to make. Grand. Even if Peter had been advocating for Master Fu to tell Adrien more, he found it a touch ironic that Peter had kept all that from him too.

“What choice do I have to make? Is there something I can do to prepare for it?”

Master Fu sat across from him and fixed him with a sad look. “I know the choice yet I cannot give it to you just yet. There will be a time when you must figure out where your priorities lie in a very final sense. The only way to prepare is to figure them out beforehand, then it might lessen the impact when you must finally choose.”

“Obviously I’m going to choose the good guys anytime.” Adrien shook his head. “I’m not just going to turn evil.”

“But what is good and what is evil? How can one tell the difference when faced with the two? If I am doing the wrong things for the right reasons, does that make me evil? Or what if I’m doing a good thing for a bad reason, does that make me good? There is no right answer in choices like these. All that matters is what you, Adrien Agreste, believe.”

“I don’t know what I believe,” Adrien said softly, the admission tumbling from weak lips. “I think I should talk to Peter and-”

“Peter Parker does not know this answer. He cannot make this choice for you. Already he wrestles with his own choices, already he struggles to lift the weight of the knowledge he bears. Like Atlas under the weight of the world, he doesn’t have the space to shoulder your problems too, Adrien. You have found the extent of his ability to fix things. I know he is trying to help but some things cannot be helped in the way that we wish. Peter knows this.”

“Why do I have a feeling that Peter knows everything that’s going to happen?” Adrien let out a shaky laugh, rubbing his knees.

“People like Peter know a lot. This is both their gift and their curse. He sent you here today to learn that.”

“I’m pretty sure he sent me to return the miraculous…?”

“There is no reason Peter couldn’t deliver it himself at some point today. Its safest place was with him. No, he sent you here to remind me of my promise.”

“Your promise to be more open with me?”

“My promise not to judge people for choices they have not yet made. A wise man, wiser than myself at times, once told me I was a fool. And he was right. I was a fool to underestimate you. Forever I shall beg forgiveness. But for now, I shall caution you against trying to worm information out of Peter. I trust his ability to know when the timing is right.”

Adrien got the message. Being Chat Noir was no longer a game that he could skip around in, simply fighting akumas and hanging out with Ladybug. Things were stirring and they had to play their cards right. Peter would deal the cards in his own time, then it was up to Ladybug and Chat Noir to decide how to play them. _A choice._

Only a few minutes later Adrien was back out on the street, making his way back home when his phone rang. Master Fu’s ominous way of speaking had made Adrien afraid to ask any follow up questions but agreed to return if he thought of any. As it stood, Adrien had no desire to have one-on-one time with the Guardian ever again.

“Hello?” He answered.

“Remember that fucking ahhhhh…,” Peter said on the other end of the line, his voice gravelly like he’d just woken up from a deep sleep.

“Can’t say I do.”

“For your birthday! Those Jagged Stone concert tickets? Yeah. Alya just called to remind me that it’s tonight.”

“Tonight?” Adrien was thrust into a state of abject panic. “We didn’t ask my dad! We’ve got patrol tonight!”

“I already cancelled patrols, your dad literally _never_ checks on you and Nathalie isn’t here. I see no issues. Plus, I already rented a car.”

“…Peter you don’t have your license.”

“I have an American driver’s license, actually.”

“You’re the worst driver I’ve ever seen.”

“Okay, I was actually rather preoccupied the one time you’ve seen me drive, so that’s not fair. Spiderman doesn’t know how to drive, Peter Parker does.”

Adrien sighed. “That doesn’t make any sense. And your American driver’s license isn’t valid here after ninety days.”

“I don’t think it’s even been ninety days but I’ll go out and get a French driver’s license, if that makes you feel better.”

Peter hung up on the coattails of his sentence, leaving Adrien with the resonance. Now, Adrien wasn’t an expert on French driving laws by any means, but he knew that you had to be over eighteen.

And Peter was definitely not over eighteen.

The house was eerily quiet when Adrien returned, the open window in Peter’s room telling him everything he needed to know. Peter had obviously already made up his mind to go get that driver’s license. Boy oh boy would he be in for a shock.

It wasn’t until Adrien was halfway through dinner that Peter returned, happily strolling through the front door.

“Feast your eyes!” Peter exclaimed, slapping the pink and blue card down in front of Adrien.

“I thought you had to be eighteen in order to get this.” Adrien held it up, checking for any signs of forgery but it looked real as could be.

“Turns out when you get Tony Stark on the phone, laws are just a suggestion! How cool is that?” Peter took a seat at the table as the chef brought out his share. “Plus, I swung by to pick up the rental car.”

Adrien got up to peer out the window. A sleek black Ferrari was parked below, plush red seats visible even from his vantage point.

“How did you afford that?”

“School charge card, remember?” Peter said. “I don’t think they intended me to use it to rent sports cars but whatever.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Adrien asked. “There’s five of us going, only four seats.”

“Nino is meeting us there,” Peter fiddled with his rice. “We’re picking Alya and Marinette up at Mari’s place and Nino and Alya are going somewhere after the concert. It works out great.”

“Sure,” Adrien said, distracted as he wondered who in their right mind would let a sixteen year old kid rent a luxury sports car. Probably the same sort of people who would waive the law for Tony Stark.

“Hurry up and eat, we’ve got places to be!”

Approximately an hour later, Adrien was ready to go. Peter had told him to bring the glow-in-the-dark paint and the light up wristbands with him and put them on in the venue bathroom, as it seemed all his energy at the given moment was devoted to looking as cool as humanly possible.

Peter was dressed in mirrored sunglasses, a black leather jacket, and ripped jeans. He seemed to have put on the outfit he thought the owner of a Ferrari would drive and it looked hilarious. But Adrien couldn’t really judge. He’d gone with a casual black bomber jacket and white t-shirt with skinny jeans. It was a bit less adventurous than his usual outfits but he didn’t want to be overdressed. And when your entire wardrobe was designer, it became very easy to accidentally show up to a casual affair in an outfit worth thousands of dollars.

“Do I look badass or do I look badass?” Peter attempted to casually slide his sunglasses down his face but instead wound up smacking them right off the end of his nose, leaving them to dangle under his chin, hanging on by his ears alone.

“Why wear sunglasses in November?” Adrien asked as they headed out the door, Peter hastily fixing the glasses.

“Because it’s cool. Now shut up and get in the car.”

Admittedly, Peter did look pretty cool as he started up his car, backing out the driveway and onto the street. The car was every teenage boy’s wet dream and here Adrien was, sitting in it. Why did his dad have to stick with such a lame grey car when they could’ve easily afforded such flashy luxury?

It didn’t take long for them to reach the bakery. True to his word, Peter’s driving wasn’t terrible, besides the fact that he had a tendency to speed a little bit, especially when passing, but definitely better than the only other time Adrien had been in a vehicle with him.

“You go get the girls,” Peter said. “I’ll sit out here with this bad boy.”

Adrien sighed, climbing out of the car and stepping into the bakery. Marinette’s mom was still there, tidying up after a long day of manning the cash register.

“Hello Mme. Cheng,” Adrien said, scuffing his feet awkwardly. She gave him a warm smile.

“Hi Adrien, you want to head on up and get them? I’d do it myself but we’re still technically open.”

“Yeah of course.” Adrien gave her a quick head nod as he opened the back door and quickly scaled the spiralling flights of stairs to reach Marinette’s house. The door was unlocked so he let himself in, rationalizing that Marinette most likely wouldn’t be able to hear him knocking if she was in her bedroom.

He’d been in her house a handful of times, a few as Chat Noir and a few times as himself but he always loved the cozy atmosphere it projected. You could tell a real family lived there by the photos on the walls and the slightly chaotic organization. It had heart, something his house was severely lacking.

“Marinette?” Adrien reached her bedroom and knocked on the trapdoor that lead to her room. On the other side, he heard screams.

Then Alya opened it, grinning down at him. “Hey Adrien. Come on in.”

Alya was a glitter extravaganza. Glittery eyeshadow coated her lids, chunky glitter highlight was dusted across her cheeks and nose, and she seemed to have applied some sort of glitter body oil. Either way, the overall effect was much like Edward Cullen from Twilight in direct sunlight, except more glittery if that was even possible. She’d dressed casually, if one could call it that, in a Jagged Stone crop top and booty shorts, despite the time of year.

“You dressed so boring,” Alya commented, nose wrinkling as Adrien stepped into the room.

“So…rry…?” Adrien’s voice trailed off in the middle of the word as his eyes landed on a framed picture of himself sitting on Marinette’s vanity. He was well acquainted with the photos as Chat Noir but apparently Adrien Agreste wasn’t supposed to know about them. Marinette’s eyes followed his gaze and she smacked it to the floor, successfully ridding it from his line of sight.

“Adrien, you’re early,” Marinette said in her usual bright manner, her toe nudging the fallen frame further under the vanity. Marinette’s look was a bit more subdued than Alya’s but she’d still included some vibrant eyeshadow and dark lipstick. She wore an oversized Jagged Stone t-shirt (Adrien was beginning to wish his father let him own merchandise just so that he didn’t stick out like a sore thumb) overtop a simple black turtleneck, tucking it all into a black miniskirt. Andddd he was staring.

 _You have a girlfriend,_ his brain chided him. No, he hadn’t been ‘checking Marinette out’ he’d simply been appreciating her outfit. As good friends do.

“Well Peter wanted to drive his car so…,” he shrugged.

“Peter can drive?” Alya asked. “He has a car?”

“He rented a car. Now that I think about it, we really shouldn’t keep him waiting, he’s going to want to show off as soon as possible. Let’s go.”

Both Marinette and Alya’s jaws dropped when they saw the car. Peter was leaning on the side of it, so perfectly poised that Adrien was certain he’d picked out the pose while they were inside talking. What a nerd.

“You’ve got a license?” Alya looked at him incredulously.

“Yep,” Peter held it up. “Fresh off the press. I’m just so good at driving that they gave it to me early.”

“That’s a lie, he called his daddy, Tony Stark,” Adrien said, making move to sit in the passenger’s seat.

“Dibs on front seat!” Alya yelled, shoving him out of the way.

“Yes, I may use my connection with Tony Stark to my benefit on occasion but I can guarantee this was all done legally. Or somewhat legally. Now let’s go, mesdames et messieurs, our concert awaits!”

They piled into the car and Adrien found himself rather close to Marinette in the backseat. In fact, in such a sports car, the backseats seemed to be an afterthought. The front row got extra leg room and relaxed chairs and all Adrien got was an awkward headrest and up close and personal with Miss Dupain-Cheng.

“Hi,” Adrien said awkwardly as Peter pulled away from the curb, waving to Marinette’s mother as they drove past.

“Why do I feel like I’m about to die?” Marinette asked, eyes wide as Peter accelerated slightly.

“He got us here without a single scratch, I’m sure he can get us to the venue alive. Right Peter?”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of my kick-ass ride,” Peter called, throwing the statement over his shoulder slightly.

Adrien was pretty sure it was rather counterproductive to use both the seat warmers and heater while having the top down but he made no comment to Peter. His car, his rules, but Adrien did shrug off his coat and hand it to Marinette when she started shivering.

“What about you? You’re wearing a t-shirt,” she protested, doing her best to refuse his jacket despite her chattering teeth.

“I’ll be fine,” Adrien shrugged. “I’ve got all this muscle to keep me warm.”

Marinette frowned slightly at him for a moment before she seemed to brush it off and laugh, accepting the jacket and pulling it on.

 _You can’t be like Chat Noir with her right now. You’re Adrien. Stop doing that,_ he chastised himself, flashing her a smile and resolving not to say anything that could constitute as humorous or flirtatious for the rest of the night.

“So what even is a Jagged Stone? Are they like a band of geologists or a singer or…?” Peter asked, following the gps to the concert.

“You mean you bought tickets without knowing who he was?” Alya asked.

“Um, duh. Do I seem like the type of person to think things through?” Peter winked in the rear view mirror although Adrien couldn’t tell if it was intended for him or Marinette.

Miraculously and by some divine intervention, Peter delivered them to the concert site unscathed. In fact, his driving had been entirely satisfactory.

“Four living persons, as requested,” he gave a stiff bow as they climbed out of the car.

“Impressive,” Marinette said, shrugging Adrien’s jacket off. “It’ll be hot in there.”

Adrien pulled his jacket back on, indifferent. His body seemed to retain a constant neutral temperature, probably due to all his years of modelling spring fashions in the dead of winter. Or maybe he’d damaged his nerves after all his wipe-outs as Chat Noir. Either way, the cold or heat was of no concern to him.

His first thought upon entering the concert was that it was like Paris Fashion Week. Like Fashion Week, the crowd seemed charged with an excited energy, not one you usually felt at runway shows. Paris Fashion Week was the fashion event of the year, and people who didn’t even work in the industry flocked to the runways, making for an actually interesting event. The same energy pulsed through the crowd here. Everyone seemed to be chatting amongst themselves, filling up the stadium with a pleasant buzz.

“Now’s the time for glow-in-the-dark face paint,” Peter said. “I’ll do you, you do me.”

Needless to say, Adrien was far more careful with Peter’s face paint than Peter was with his. By the time Peter was done rubbing his fingers over Adrien’s face, he had a massive pink handprint that stretched over the majority of his face, a orange nose, and a green flower drawn on his cheek in a sloppy fashion. Adrien had just drawn lines on Peter.

“Great. That’s so great,” Adrien grumbled as Peter and the girls laughed at him.

“Hey!” Nino joined them, sliding into his spot. “Sick face paint!”

“Want some?” Peter said, turning eagerly, finger at the ready.

“Say no,” Adrien advised. His advice was not heeded.

“Sure!”

By the time Jagged Stone walked out on stage, all of them had at least some of the glowing paint on them. Peter and paint seemed to be a dangerous combination, one that Adrien greatly regretted allowing to exist.

The concert itself was great. Despite not knowing any of the songs, Peter was screaming along to the music, blowing out Adrien’s eardrums but adding to the experience. They all left grinning, Peter’s arms laden with merchandise.

“So let me get this straight. You not only designed that man’s sunglasses but you also made his _album cover_? As in the very album cover on this t-shirt?” Peter shook a t-shirt in Marinette’s face.

“You’re not the only one with famous friends, Lightning.” Adrien shoved his shoulder against Peter’s as they stepped out into the crisp night.

“Lightning?” Peter cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, Lightning McQueen.”

“I am currently high on serotonin so I won’t contest that,” Peter hummed, leading Adrien and Marinette back to the car. Alya and Nino had already gone off on whatever side adventure they’d had planned, leaving just the three of them.

“Do we want to do anything else?” Peter asked as they pulled out of the lot. “I feel like this night isn’t over yet.”

“Let’s get super gross takeout food and eat it along the Seine,” Marinette suggested from the backseat, Adrien’s jacket back on. Adrien had tried to get her to sit in the front with the better heaters but she’d refused politely.

“That would be great,” Adrien said.

“We’ll make a quick stop by Mari’s so she can grab a proper coat instead of leeching Adrien’s,” Peter said. “But that sounds like it’ll be a rock and roll time.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes before Peter spoke again. “Do you guys ever get that feeling when you’re driving and you’re just like damn…I could drive us right off the road right now and no one could even stop me?”

“NO!” Adrien and Marinette yelled in unison.

It was about eleven p.m. by the time they’d got their food and were seated on the concrete ledge above the river. Something about the three of them sitting there felt familiar, like a hazy dream. The way Marinette’s hair shone in the light of the full moon tugged at a memory at the back of Adrien’s mind but he didn’t seem to be able to pull it to the forefront. Instead, he settled for simply bathing in the moment.

“Nice night,” Peter commented, picking at his hamburger.

“What, not a fan of tomatoes?” Adrien asked, accepting the tomato his friend held out to him with a look of disgust.

“If you’re a fan of gross, watery slabs with the texture of slimy rubber than yeah. Tomatoes are great.”

“I’m with Peter,” Marinette agreed. “Tomatoes are nasty.”

“Good thing I’m here then,” Adrien grinned, taking her tomato slice as well. “I’ll eat them all.”

“My knight in shining armour,” Peter fake swooned. “Here to rescue me from those horrible tomatoes. How ever shall I repay you?”

“Tell everyone what you saw here today,” Adrien said solemnly, bobbing his head.

Marinette laughed and Adrien felt his heart soar. He loved spending time with his friends and he knew with abject certainty that he would look back on these memories one day fondly. These were the good old days and Adrien never wanted to leave them.

* * *

By the time Monday rolled around, Peter was completely unprepared to even think about facing Chloé. Facing Chloé would involve the inevitable coming to terms with the fact that she still existed and hadn’t evaporated into thin air overnight.

And so naturally he put on the best outfit he (or rather, Adrien) had. Better to come dressed to kill than dressed for defeat.

“Why are you dressed like Keanu Reeves from the Matrix?” Adrien’s eyes flicked Peter up and down as he sat down for breakfast.

“I am a badass bitch. Try your best to keep up.”

“Talking to Chloé today?” Adrien took a sip of his orange juice, eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Absolutely none of your business. Is Nathalie still not back yet?” Peter hadn’t seen Nathalie since he’d left her on the beach. He was starting to worry she’d somehow died.

“No,” Adrien’s brow creased, worry flitting across his face. “I tried asking Father but, as usual, he had nothing to say to me.”

“Bitch,” Peter muttered.

“What was that, Neo?” Adrien raised one eyebrow slowly.

“I called your dad a bitch,” Peter gave him the sweetest smile possible. “And I’d do it again. Also, I’m not quite sure I like your sudden affluence of pop culture references. That’s my gimmick, you can’t take it.”

“You’re in a…unique mood today.”

“Variety is the spice of life.”

Peter didn’t have to return the car until that evening and he was prepared to make the most of it as possible. This was quite possibly the only shred of cool he’d ever get (superhero side gigs excluded) and he was going to milk it for all it was worth.

“Really?” Adrien folded his arms, fixing Peter with a disapproving stare as Peter ran down to his precious car, running a hand along its smooth paint job.

“It’s my baby.”

“It’s not even _yours_.” However, Adrien still climbed in without Peter even asking.

“One day when I’m actually paid for this Spiderman thing I’ll get one,” Peter said as he started the car.

“You’re not paid? But you’re part of the superhero union!”

“Dude, do you mean the Avengers?” Peter glanced away from the road to give Adrien an incredulous look. “I mean yeah, but I’m not paid for that until I’m an adult and it becomes a full time thing.”

“You mean once you graduate you’re going to be Spiderman full time?”

Peter honestly hadn’t given much thought to what was waiting for him post-graduation but then again, it wasn’t something he really had to worry about. He could do anything, honestly.

“Might get a few PhD’s in my downtime, you know the vibes. We’re here.” Peter pulled to a smooth stop, carefully parking.

“Yo, Parker! Sick ride!” Kim called on his way up the front steps. Peter gave him a casual salute as he put the car in park and switched the engine off. A small crowd of kids had gathered to admire as he climbed on out.

“How validation starved are you?” Adrien asked him as they walked away, headed to class.

“Famished,” Peter flashed him a toothy grin, rather similar to the one Chat Noir always sported. If Adrien was going to steal his gig, by god he was going to steal Adrien’s.

“Good morning boys,” Alya greeted them at the steps. “Someone’s waiting for you, Peter.”

“Guess it’s better to get it over with now,” Peter sighed, shifting the shoulder his bag hung off. “Catch you guys in class if it runs overtime.”

“Are you wearing platform boots?” Alya squinted at his feet.

“Like them? They’re Chanel.” Peter kicked his foot out slightly, giving Alya a quick glance before he headed into the courtyard. Just as Alya had said, Chloé was standing there, leaning against a pillar and inspecting her nails. They made eye contact but she made no move to wave him down or walk over. She was giving him the choice, allowing him to choose whether to approach her or not.

Peter rolled his shoulders back, cracking his neck as he did so, taking that last second to compose himself before he walked towards her.

“Are you wearing those boots just so you can be taller than me?” Chloé asked the second he reached her.

“What, a man’s not allowed to have any fashion sense?”

“I have seen you wear graphic t-shirts.” She pursed her lips, well aware that she’d won that round. Was it healthy for Peter to think of their conversations as a competition? Probably not. But good lord, if it wasn’t something he not only wanted to win but also thought was possible to achieve.

“You wanted to talk to me?”

“I wanted to apologize, actually.”

“Yeah, I gathered that.”

“You misunderstood me, I wanted to clear that up.” Chloé looked up at him, eyes sparkling with sincerity, like ice in the sun. It was a new look for her. “When I said that people like me weren’t friends with people like you, I meant that you’re literally amazing, smart, funny, well-dressed – although I suspect that’s Adrien’s doing – and I guess you’re everything I think I am. But in reality I’m mean and I was awful to you and everyone else here. There’s a kind of light in you that I don’t think I can match. That’s why I said what I did, but I can understand how you took it the way you did. I tend to come off a lot more abrasive than I intend.”

Peter just stood there, completely uncertain of what to say. Of everything he’d prepared for in all his mental scenarios, he hadn’t been expecting _that_. She’d probably prepared to say that, there was no way he could’ve come up with something like that on the spot. Should he have written something to say down? He felt wildly underprepared.

“Well that was… quite succinct and candid, thank you,” he managed, coughing slightly. “I don’t really know what I can…you know.”

“If you can’t accept my apology, I understand. I just wanted to let you know that you inspire me to be a better person and I really would have liked to be friends with you.” Chloé gave him a curt nod, moving to step around him, but Peter held out a hand.

“Chloé, wait.” She stopped, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

“If you really mean that, I’d like to be friends with you too.”

“Really?” She grabbed him in a hug and released him before Peter could even make sense of what was happening, stepping back and clasping her hands under her chin. “I mean, of course.”

“It would be rude to snub the first girl I ever kissed,” Peter winked at her.

“ _That_ was your first kiss? Loser.” She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “Let me know if you’re ever looking for a second one.” And with that she strolled away, leaving Peter to deal with the aftermath of the verbal equivalent of a nuclear bomb.

 _You are_ not _taking her up on that offer,_ his brain declared. _No way in hell. Friends. Friends. You don’t even like her._

“Okay, but I do like kissing pretty girls,” Peter said aloud on accident as he rejoined his friends.

“What’s that?” Nino asked.

“Do _not_ tell me you kissed her again,” Alya said, facepalming.

“It was discussed,” Peter said, scuffing his feet. “But not put to practice.”

“I’m sending you to horny jail,” she declared, grabbing Peter’s wrists and proceeding to pretend to cuff them behind his back.

“Hey guys!” Marinette joined them at that moment and Peter gave her a dazzling grin. “What’s going on?”

“I’m being incarcerated for my libido,” Peter said bluntly.

“You’re what?”

“Trust me, you don’t want any part in this,” Adrien muttered to her, covering the side of his mouth that was turned towards Peter with one hand. As if that prevented Peter from hearing him.

“I heard that Agreste. You’re next!” Peter threatened, pretending to squirm against Alya’s hands as she held his behind his back.

“Me? How am _I_ deserving of horny jail?” Adrien pressed a hand to his chest, acting as though he was offended by Peter’s statement.

“Don’t play innocent with me! I’ve _seen_ you kiss your girlfriend! There is nothing innocent about that!”

The bell chose that moment to ring, saving Peter from what would’ve been a _very_ awkward conversation. Granted that Nino and Alya had not been aware that Adrien had a girlfriend and were now rounding on their friend, eyes hungry for information.

“Peter Parker I am going to KILL you!” Adrien yelled after him as Peter tore up the steps, three at a time, whooping to himself like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh.

Adrien spent most of the class death-glaring him, meaning Peter spent most of the class cackling silently, only interrupted by him providing the occasional answer to the teacher as she went through the concept of literary analysis.

“You little rat!” Adrien burst out the second they left the classroom once the lunch bell rang.

“You had all that time and that’s the best thing you could come up with?” Peter laughed as Nino, Marinette, and Alya caught up to them in the courtyard.

“Nuh-uh,” Alya said, grabbing Adrien by the straps of his bag. “You’ve been holding out on us, Agreste. Spill.”

Adrien shuffled awkwardly, swatting Alya’s hands away. “She is a female girl who I like and who happens to like me back.”

“That’s false,” Peter cut in. The mischievous grin he’d been wearing all morning was starting to become a permanent facial feature. “He annoyed her into going out with him. I watched it happen.”

“Is she hot?” Alya pressed.

Adrien frowned. “There’s more to a girl than just her looks, Alya-”

“I don’t care,” Alya interrupted. “Is she hot?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Dude!” Nino said. “Why does Peter get to know everything before us?”

“Because he’s a know-it-all to begin with,” Adrien grumbled, shooting Peter a look that was meant to _kill._ Peter just gave him a little wave. “And he has a habit of sticking his nose into other’s business.”

“Kinda hard to ignore when I’m _right there_ ,” Peter huffed, rolling his eyes sarcastically. “Like seriously, get a room or something.”

“Peter?” Adrien said. “Stop talking.”

“Avec plaisir, Casanova.” Peter gave a little mock bow, carefully avoiding the kick Adrien aimed at his behind.

Adrien had a photoshoot after school that day, so Peter went home alone after returning the rental car. It had been a good day thus far; he’d gotten his Romeo and Juliet literary essay back and he’d gotten one hundred percent. All his time studying French grammar was finally starting to pay off. It was one thing to speak it, but writing it was a whole other can of worms. A can of worms that Peter had successfully opened, baited his hook with, and caught a gigantic fish for dinner with.

He reached his room but paused, his spidey senses piquing. There was someone in there. Whether they were a threat or not, that remained to be seen. Carefully engaging his web shooters under his jacket, Peter turned the handle and kicked the door open.

‘Adrien’ was lounging on Peter’s couch, reading a science magazine Peter had left lying around a few days before. He looked exactly like Adrien, which was exactly how Peter knew it was _not_ Adrien.

“Hey Felix,” Peter said, shedding his jacket and draping it over the coffee table.

“How’d you guess so fast?” Felix sat up, tossing the magazine aside and running a hand through his hair. “It usually takes even Nathalie at least ten minutes before she realizes.”

“One, Adrien has a photoshoot today and I doubt it would be cancelled, two, Adrien doesn’t read my _English_ science magazines because he says reading English gives him a headache. Three, Adrien would never wear a crushed velvet suit jacket overtop a hoodie. He’s specifically told me that the textures clash. Four, I can see the remnants of your hair gel in your hair. It’s been mussed from its original position to imitate Adrien. Would you like me to continue?”

“How good is your eyesight, exactly?” Felix squinted at him suspiciously.

“Good enough to know your were an imposter. What are you doing here.” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement of annoyance.

“My mum had some Christmas shopping to do. I decided to come here since I thought we could call Spiderman together. Me, his manager, you, his assistant.”

“For starters,” Peter sat down in his desk chair and turned away from Felix, facing the computer, “I’m not Spiderman’s assistant. I’m his tech guy. And I’m not going to call him with you, I’ve got work to do.”

Felix harrumphed behind him. “Well then I’m going to call him myself.”

_Think of an excuse, think of an excuse._

“He won’t pick up,” Peter said, pretending to be unperturbed as he sorted through his files. “He’s got a mandatory Avengers global check-in meeting. If you don’t show up the meetings, you’re presumed dead and they send out a team to look for you. It’s serious stuff and they take it seriously.”

_Seriously, how many times are you going to say seriously?_

“I guess I’ll just watch you work.” Felix got up and walked over to hover over Peter’s shoulder.

“Can I ask why?”

“I need to get a better sense of what goes on behind the scenes in Spiderman’s life. I’ve never even seen him in action.”

“Well I’m doing suit design right now, nothing interesting.” It wasn’t a lie. Peter was trying to figure out whether he would be able to combine his suit with Helios’s and whether or not his webs would melt if he were to try to shoot them in such a state. He was currently trying to make heat-resistant web shooters to prevent any sort of melting or catching fire of the web fluid, something complex enough Felix wouldn’t fully understand if Peter did it right in front of him.

“That sounds interesting.” Felix folded his arms, breath hot on the back of Peter’s neck. If Felix didn’t give him his space, Peter was going to lose his mind.

“Yeah, sure.” Peter opened up a file labelled ‘wsptv104’

“What does that mean?”

“Web shooter prototype version one hundred and four, obviously.” Usually Peter would work closely with Karen to figure this out but he didn’t quite have the option with Felix right there. What a headache.

“Why are there multiple prototypes? Aren’t the ones he has right now good?”

“We’re always trying to improve certain aspects of the suit. I’m looking at adding tantalum carbide and hafnium carbide fibres to improve structural integrity irregardless of heat.”

“Aren’t hafnium alloys usually used in aerospace engineering?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Peter mumbled as he zoomed in on a 3D structure, carefully altering the most minuscule of fibres on the model.

“Don’t those two metals have the highest melting points?”

“Around four thousand degrees Celsius, yeah.” Peter typed out a quick note to himself, reminding him to alter the web fluid composition and sending it away before Felix could get a proper read on it.

“Where is Spiderman going that’s four thousand degrees? Wouldn’t he die?”

“If we look at the precedent of human limits, yes. One thing you’ll learn rather quickly about working with Spiderman is that he is anything but ordinary. His DNA isn’t even fully human.”

Felix leaned against the desk, watching as Peter continued to examine his model. It was mostly completed as that day’s work was supposed to be about testing web fluid but everyone knew Spiderman made his own web fluid. He couldn’t risk either revealing his identity or tarnishing his reputation in front of Felix just for the sake of work. Besides, he could cancel on patrols and make up any lost productivity later. 

“So if I got bitten by a radioactive spider, I could be Spiderman too?”

“Felix.” Peter closed the program and pushed his chair away from the desk. “You’re getting close to my last nerve. Want to fight? Like Elmo in Times Square round two?”

Felix’s eyes flashed with challenge. “Of course.”

* * *

Marinette wanted to tear her hair out.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Alya asked for the billionth time since Peter had casually mentioned that Adrien had a girlfriend. Sure, maybe if it had been her first time hearing about said girlfriend or if she was still into him, Marinette would be heartbroken. But as it stood, she couldn’t care less and Alya’s constant stream of questioning made her want to die.

“Yes, Alya, I am one hundred and fifty percent fine and totally over him.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she poked pins into her latest creation. December started tomorrow and she needed the perfect Christmas themed outfit. A red dress with a flared, bell-shaped skirt and white fluffy trim was the current goal. Of course, it was not a goal that would be reached if Alya kept up with this line of questioning.

“Are you like, super-duper sure? I want to talk about it but I don’t want to tread all over your feelings or anything if-”

“Alya! Just talk about it, okay? Adrien is my friend, just like you’re my friend and Nino’s my friend and Peter is my friend.”

“Fine.” Alya rocked back on her hands at her spot on Marinette’s chaise lounge. “Sounds like Adrien’s a bit less timid than we made him out to be. By Peter’s comments, it seems like Adrien makes out with his girlfriend right in front of him.”

“I mean, they do live together. Maybe Adrien was just doing his own thing and Peter walked in. We don’t know what goes down.”

“I’m just wondering if Adrien is secretly a freak!” Alya said excitedly, oblivious to the fact that Marinette didn’t seem to match her level of enthusiasm when it came to speculating over how kinky Adrien Agreste was.

“Why don’t you ask Peter?” She suggested sarcastically. “I’m sure he knows all about that.”

Alya missed her sarcasm, pulling out her phone. “Great idea!”

Before Marinette could dissuade her, Alya had called Peter and he picked up almost instantly, his face filling the screen. “Thank god.”

“What’s going on?” Marinette abandoned her project to sit beside Alya so she could see better. Peter was hanging from what looked like the loft in his room by one hand, his other hand holding onto the phone.

“Felix and I are working.” Peter turned the camera around, showing an angry Felix on the ground, jumping on the spot and swiping at Peter’s ankles. Laughing, Peter tucked his knees up closer to his body. Marinette’s own core muscles ached at the sight but Peter didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. “What’s up?”

“Marinette and I were speculating over whether Adrien is a freak. Can you confirm or deny?”

“Confirm,” Peter said. “One second, this is gonna get a little dizzying for you guys.” The camera flip-flopped, the audio crackling for a moment before it rightened itself, showing Peter now hanging on a tiny ledge on the opposite wall.

“Did you just flip across the room?” Marinette asked, trying to peer at the background.

“Um, guess so.” Peter shrugged. “Anyways, yeah I’d vote freak. And while I would love to discuss Adrien’s love life with you guys, I have more pressing matters to attend to.”

“You’re cheating!” Felix yelled from the background.

“I’m not cheating, you’re just weak! Do some squats and chin-ups, then we can talk, City Boy.” Peter grinned at the camera. “Can’t get shit done with him here. Have fun fantasizing, ladies!” He ended the call the second Felix began to swear at him.

“That was…,” Alya said.

“Crazy?” Marinette suggested. “I don’t think Peter ever does anything besides chaos.”

“Is it just me or is he wildly unpredictable?” Alya shook her head as she thrust her phone down. “One minute I think I’ve got him figured out, the next moment he’s dangling off the wall while Felix Graham de Vanily yells at him but I guess we can’t all read each other like books.”

“Peter Parker is truly an enigma,” Marinette agreed, echoing Alya’s sentiments. “I think his randomness is what makes him interesting.”

“It’s like he’s thinking of a billion things all at once and I wouldn’t understand any of them if he explained it to me. I once asked him precisely he does for Spiderman and I didn’t understand a single word of it. Honestly, he’s like when you don’t put away your necklaces properly and they get all tangled up in ways you didn’t even know _existed_.”

Marinette gave her a look at that terrible analogy and stood up, slowly beginning to pace her room, trying to think how she could distract Alya so she didn’t go back to talking about Adrien. She loved her friend, she really did, but she didn’t want to discuss the former love of her life’s hypothetical kinkiness any further.

“Mari, your phone is ringing. It’s from…cat heart emoji?” Marinette had never lunged for a phone faster in her life. That’s what she deserved for leaving her superhero phone out in plain sight. She’d added the heart emoji just after Chat had asked her to be his girlfriend thinking no one would see it except her and now she was very deeply regretting it. Even so, he’d never called her before.

“I’ll be back in a sec.” Marinette quickly ran up to her loft and clambered up to her balcony, shutting the door firmly before answering. “Hi Chat.”

 _“Hello My Lady,”_ he responded in his usual upbeat tone. _“Spiderman has just informed me he can’t make patrols tonight. He’s designing a new suit that needs to be done as soon as possible. It’ll just be you and me.”_

“He’s designing a new suit? What’s wrong with his old one?”

_“Beats me. It didn’t sound like he was having fun. His new manager isn’t the easiest to work with, so I hear.”_

“Well I’ll see you at patrols then.”

 _“We should call more often.”_ His voice sent shivers down her spine. No doubt Alya was waiting to grill her as soon as she went back down. The longer the call was, the more Alya would want to hear about it. But Marinette didn’t want to hang up.

“Yeah, we should.” She smiled, sitting down on her balcony chair. “I like hearing your voice.”

_“Me too. As much as I love getting your texts, this has so much more of a…personal aspect to it.”_

“I shou-should be going. My friend is waiting for me, she’s going to wonder what’s taking me so long. I’m already going to have to lie to her about who you were.”

_“Lie? Now why would you do that?”_

“I can’t tell her I’m dating Chat Noir, that would raise some questions,” Marinette giggled.

_“What are you going to tell her then?”_

“I’ll probably tell her you’re my grand-mère.”

_“I’m- I don’t know what to say to that, in all honesty. Isn’t that incest?”_

“I don’t know!?” She laughed, quickly covering her mouth with her sleeve so Alya didn’t hear her. “I’ll catch you later, chaton.”

_“Bye-bye Buginette!”_

Marinette hung up and dropped back into her room, fixing Alya with an innocent smile. “What?”

Alya crossed her arms over her chest. “Care to tell me who that was and why you’re smiling so hard right now?”

“That was my grand-mère.”

“Try again.”

“Try again?” Marinette tilted her head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, first Adrien, now you! You’ve obviously got a secret boyfriend or something!” She stood up, walking towards Marinette with a look of determination before she paused suddenly, face lighting up. “Wait a minute! Are you and Adrien secretly dating?”

“What? No!” Marinette felt her face heat up. “Alya, if I were dating Adrien you would be the first to know about it.”

“Then who _are_ you dating, Mari?”

There was no sense lying. Alya’s expression told her everything she needed to know. It was either Marinette told her of her own volition or Alya forced it out of her. “I met someone. He doesn’t even go to our school, so don’t bother.”

“Do I know him?”

 _Yes, yes you know him extremely well. He’s on your blog every single day._ “No, I don’t think so.”

“Is he hot? And don’t give a lame answer like Adrien did. Gimme the juicy details.”

“He’s _extremely_ hot. Hot and muscular and tall. Good enough?” Marinette crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow slowly.

“Big dick?”

“ALYA!” Marinette shrieked, arms flailing as she fell backwards, landing right on her desk chair.

“It’s a valid question!”

“I don’t know! Do you think I’ve…you know what, no.” Marinette spun around to face her desk, burying her flaming face in her hands. “I’m just going to pretend you didn’t ask that.”

“ _Fine_ , tell me about his personality.” Alya took a seat directly on the floor, crossing her legs, looking up at Marinette with an expectant expression.

“He’s funny,” Marinette finally worked up the courage to spin and face Alya properly again although her blush hadn’t quite subsided. “His sense of humour is the first thing you notice about him. He’s also really sweet and caring, he’s the sort to bring you flowers on a bad day or do anything he can to make you laugh again.”

“He sounds great.” Alya gave her a sincere smile. “Do I get to meet him?”

“Maybe one day. Right now we’re just kind of working out the details, you know?”

“I feel you.” Alya checked the time on her phone. “Not to dip after you’ve just spilled your biggest secret to me, but I’ve got to get home to babysit the twins. Call you later?”

“I, uh, can’t.” Marinette gave her a guilty smile and Alya gave her a wink.

“All good, girl. You go get some!”

“Alya!”

“Just kidding!”

**** 

Marinette was a bundle of nerves as she transformed that night, although she didn’t know why. It was just Chat. Just her and Chat. Just like the old days. In fact, it usually was her and Chat. Spidey had a lot of side tasks he was constantly off doing but she couldn’t blame him. Being a part of the Avengers came before patrols. She had no idea what kind of things they would be assigning him to do and what they expected him to do while he was in Paris.

As she swung out into the night she remembered something important. She’d never gone to talk to Master Fu about Spiderman. Maybe tonight was the night to do that. If Spiderman was holding out on them, she needed to get to the bottom of it. After all, they were a team, were they not?

“I see those wheels turning,” Chat said the second she landed at their usual meeting spot.

“I forgot to talk to Master Fu about Spiderman,” she admitted.

“Don’t worry, I took initiative.” Chat gave her a crooked smile. “Master Fu says we need to trust Spiderman’s timing and that he’ll tell us when the time is right.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Marinette crossed her arms across her chest, huffing.

“Look on the bright side, My Lady. Helios defeated Mayura.”

“Defeated? He didn’t…kill her, did he?”

“No!” Chat seemed offended she would even think that. She let out a sigh of relief. For a second there she’d been worried that the miraculous was turning Peter bad. However, she needn’t have worried. He was still the good guy she knew, albeit a little distant when he took on his superhero persona. “He just took her miraculous. Gave it to Spiderman, Spiderman fixed it right up and now it’s back in the Guardian’s hands.”

“Hold up.” Marinette held a hand up. “Helios took her miraculous? And Spiderman fixed it?”

“Yeah, that’s literally what I just said.”

“How did either of them do that?”

“No idea.” Chat shrugged. “They’re both just crazy talented, I guess. Scary talented, actually.”

“To spend a day in their minds, honestly.” Marinette shook her head. “Patrol time?”

“Sure. Then we’ll talk about how your conversation with your friend went.” He gave her a wicked grin, spinning his baton over his head before running off.

“This stupid cat,” Marinette grumbled, running off in her own direction.

Patrol didn’t take long, as it never seemed to these days. If Spiderman did know the identity of the Papillon, he’d surely warn them if they were in imminent danger.

“Okay, tell me everything.” They landed on a rooftop not too far from Marinette’s house. It was a nice flat one, good for sitting on, with lots of tall chimneys to shield them from prying eyes. Chat sat down promptly, looking up at her with big eyes as he waited to hear every tiny detail of her talk with Alya.

“Well I told her you were my grand-mère, just like I said I would,” Marinette said, taking a seat right beside him, so close their shoulders were touching. “And can you believe she thought I was lying?”

“I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not,” Chat said.

“Of course I’m kidding. Anyways, she managed to piece together the fact that I may or may not have a secret boyfriend.”

Chat gasped dramatically, bringing a clawed hand up to cover his mouth. “You have a _what_? Ladybug, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Shut up.” Marinette rolled her eyes, shoving her shoulder into his. He returned the gesture, bumping her back until they were both swaying back and forth amicably. “Anyways, then she asked if you were hot.”

“And you told her I was the hottest human being you’re ever laid eyes on, right?”

“Something along those lines,” Marinette said, reaching out and threading her hand through his. Chat’s eyes widened in surprise at the gesture but quickly schooled his features, running his thumb over her hand. “And then she asked me if _youhadabigdick_.” She mumbled the last part in a whisper, getting it out as fast as humanly possible.

“Sorry, what was that last part?” Chat, genuinely confused, leaned slightly closer. Marinette didn’t even know why she was telling him this. Maybe she was curious? How the hell did she even expect him to react to this statement? She didn’t know, but she cleared her throat nonetheless, steeling her resolve.

“She asked me if you have a big –” she looked him dead in the eyes and swallowed her pride “– dick.”

Chat burst into laughter. “She asked that?” He howled. “God, I like your friend. What did you tell her?”

“I told her I had no idea,” Marinette said, not appreciating how hot her face was becoming. Stupid hot boyfriend laughing at her. Stupid best friend for asking about his dick size and piquing her curiosity. Stupid teenage hormones for making her curious in the first place.

“Well, would you like to find out?” Chat stated plainly, then sucked in a quick breath and seemed to hold it, eyes searching her face as Marinette did her best to process what he’d just asked her.

“I’m sorry, what?” That was possibly the most awkward way Chat could’ve responded to that, but truth be told it was an awkward conversation to begin with.

“That didn’t come out right, it was supposed to sound sexy and everything but then it just…didn’t.” Chat carefully untangled his hand from hers, putting them both behind him and kicking his feet straight out in front. “I meant like…you know what, literally forget it. Just forget I spoke, in fact, forget I exist in all honesty. I don’t exist. You don’t have a partner.”

Marinette burst out laughing. “Oh Chat,” she sighed. “I could never forget you. And I’m sure it sounded very sexy in your head.” She ran a hand through his hair absent-mindedly, smiling to herself at the way he pouted.

“I can be sexy if I try harder,” he grumbled.

“Naturally.”

“You don’t believe me.” He looked at her, eyes sparkling with the hint of a challenge. “What if I just….” He let his voice trail off as he rose slightly, crawling towards her, the shadows swathing him in darkness save his glowing green eyes. Those eyes seemed to stare into her soul as he stopped in front of her then slowly, always ever so slowly, leaning forwards until he was only a few centimetres from her face. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she whispered, her heartbeat suddenly speeding up. Hovering over her in his crouched position, Chat Noir looked like a jaguar hunting his prey as she stared hopelessly up at him.

“I can’t tell if I’m coming off sexy or intimidating so I’m just going to kiss you so that you can’t make up your mind,” he declared, voice lower than usual and slightly huskier. Marinette parted her lips expectantly but instead of going for the mouth like he usually did, Chat dipped his head down into the crook of her neck, pressing soft but insistent kisses along her jawline. Her mouth popped open further in surprise as he worked his way down her neck, hands caressing her shoulders.

Suddenly he sat back, clambering off of her and returning to his seat beside her. “Was that sexier?”

“You little….” Marinette glared at him.

“What?” He said innocently. “I told you I could be sexy.”

“I hate you,” she decided. “You’re the worst.”

“What did I do wrong?” He continued to pretend. “Oh! Were you expecting more?” He gave her a smile that seemed to show off every tooth, causing them to glint in the moonlight.

“You know what, no. I’m not inflating your ego further.” Marinette slumped against the chimney they had their back to, drawing her knees up to her chest and looking determinedly away from him.

“My Lady, come here,” Chat said after a moment. That got her attention, at least.

“Hm?”

“If you really want,” he hesitated before swallowing hard. “I’ll follow through.”

“What are you…?”

“Only if you want. But if you wish to, I’ll do more than just…kiss you.” He looked at her with those big, green eyes and Marinette was like putty in his hands. Of course she wanted to do more. She’d _expected_ him to do more when he’d practically climbed on top of her earlier.

Her body was humming as she shifted slightly, raising herself just above the ground and crawling into his lap, kneeling on either side of his outstretched legs. Chat pulled her towards him, eyes searching her face for any sign of hesitation or nerves. But there was none. Satisfied, he carefully leaned forwards, lips meeting hers.

This kiss was slow, starting off small and giving itself time to build. Marinette caught his bottom lip between her teeth, giving it a quick tug before releasing it and continuing the kiss. This seemed to do something to Chat, and he whined slightly beneath her, mouth hungrily attacking hers. He pulled her even closer to him until her chest was flat against his, hands dancing along her lower back as she kissed him. Marinette’s hands never moved from their desperate grasping at the sides of his face, almost like she was scared he would disappear if she let go.

She shifted slightly on his lap to get a better angle and Chat made a noise, one that seemed to come from the back of his throat and rumble against her lips.

“My Lady,” he groaned in a strained tone and she pulled back, ever so slightly, eyes flitting across his face, searching for any discomfort.

“Chat?” She asked tentatively, shifting slightly again, uncertain if she should get off, and he groaned once more. Something hard was poking against her inner thigh. Was that…? He’d never- not to her knowledge at least. But something was in the air that night and she felt a tingling sensation run through her at the realization that _she’d_ done that to him. She’d given Chat Noir an erection, there was no denying it. The tingling settled at the apex of her thighs and suddenly all her inhibitions went out the window. Perhaps she would be getting an answer to Alya’s question tonight.

Kissing him again, Ladybug ran her fingers down his chest, hands spreading out over his pectorals as Chat continued to let out soft moans beneath her.

“Can I…,” he panted slightly, pupils blown wide behind heavy lids as his hands slowly travelled lower down her back. The idea of Chat wanting her like _that_ – although she’d always suspected he did – was enough to set Marinette off as she whimpered, arching her back in an attempt to send his hands lower. Chat got the message, removing his hands from her altogether before replacing them on her ass, gripping slightly. And Marinette practically mewled at his touch, her own arousal undeniable.

They met in the middle for another kiss and this time Marinette rolled her hips forwards, rocking against Chat’s obvious erection. He responded enthusiastically, gripping her ass tighter as he bucked his own hips up to meet hers.

“You feel…so good,” he managed between the canting of his hips, latching his mouth onto the space where her suit met the soft skin of her neck, nipping lightly before sucking. It would probably leave a mark come morning but Marinette couldn’t find it within herself to care, angling her hips to create more friction, more more _more._

“There, Chat, right there,” she breathed, eyelashes fluttering. She could feel him, feel everything as his bulge rubbed against her clit, sending stars spiralling across her vision.

“M’Lady,” Chat openly groped her derrière as the heat between them intensified, reaching a fever pitch as Marinette buried her hands in his hair, tilting his head back to look up at her.

“Look at me,” she said, her voice low and laced with desire as she picked up the pace, grinding against him with a newfound ferocity, fervently trying to reach her high at the same time as him. “You’re so good, chaton. So good for your Lady.”

Those were the words that seemed to set Chat off as he let out a long, drawn-out moan, hips shuddering beneath her, moan transitioning into a deep purr as he laid back.

Marinette wanted to scream. She’d been close, _so close_ , and the stupid cat had managed to get off before her. In his suit, nonetheless!

“Did you cum?” Chat said once he’d caught his breath. The words sounded so filthy coming from his mouth, and a shiver raced through her, accentuating the empty ache between her legs. She wanted more and she wanted him now.

She shook her head, unable to say anything, and Chat sat up. “That won’t do!”

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to…in costume….” She waved a hand through the air lamely as she trailed off but Chat ignored it, shifting her to sit atop his thigh and placing his hands on her waist.

“I’m already going to get hell for it from my kwami, I figure it’s only fair you get the same treatment.” He flashed her a wicked smile, hands guiding her waist forwards, then back, then forwards again, encouraging her to ride his thigh.

It was so lewd, somehow lewder in her mind than grinding on his erection like she had moments before, and with her senses dialled up to the max, Marinette complied. She gripped his shoulders as he helped bring her back to the edge she’d been teetering on before, vaguely aware of him leaving more hickeys along her neck.

Her moans and whimpers were out of control now, barely caring who heard them as Chat murmured praises along her jaw.

“Come on, My Lady.” He reached down with one hand, his thumb finding her clit with ease and he rubbed rough circles. And that was just what Marinette needed.

“Chat,” she chanted his name like a prayer as she fell over the edge, hands digging into his shoulder blades as she came.

For the moment after, no one moved until Marinette slumped forwards against his chest, bathing in the afterglow. Chat pressed gentle kisses to the crown of her head, but neither one spoke.

She’d officially had kind-of-sex with Chat Noir. Not real sex, of course, they couldn’t see each other out of suit, but that was about as far as they could go. And they’d went there. And now they could never go back.

Not that Marinette wanted to. That had been great, honestly. Seeing Chat unravel like that, see him come undone beneath her, that was a sight she wanted to see over and over again.

She would have been content to sit there in silence if it weren’t for Chat’s hands sliding down her back once again and gripping her ass.

“What’cha doing?” She asked casually, mumbling against his chest.

“I love your ass.” Chat kneaded it with his fingers, almost like a cat, and she could practically hear his smile in his voice.

“You’re never going to take your hands off, are you?”

“With your permission, My Lady, I’d never place my hands anywhere else.”

“You silly kitty,” she laughed. “You’re insatiable, aren’t you?”

“I could never get enough,” he said honestly. “Not of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me title-dropping smh (also first time attempting smut. If you saw any mistakes, no you didn’t <3)
> 
> Also we are over halfway done! After this chapter, things are definitely going to start taking on a much faster pace as we reach the end. At this current time, I’m projecting around maybe 6 (?) more chapters??? Maybe more, but we’ll have to see. Either way, I can’t wait to write this next chapter, A LOT is going to go down. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!!


	18. Un Tien Vaut Mieux que Deux tu l’auras

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1/2 of the moment you’ve all been waiting for...

“Shut the fuck up,” Peter said by means of greeting when Adrien strolled into the room. Adrien paused, eyeing him wearily. He’d already had a bad start to his morning – Plagg had threatened bloody murder over the events of the previous night and Adrien had had to sit through a rare lecture. Although said lecture was mostly Plagg bargaining for an increased Camembert allowance.

“Did you sleep last night?” Adrien asked, eyeing the set-up. Peter had a massive incubator style tube on the floor beside his desk, a robotic arm inside the glass printing off a Spiderman suit before Adrien’s very eyes.

“Hmm?” Peter glanced away from his computer screen, eyes blinking as they adjusted to the daylight. “I made a side trip to London to pick that up from Mr. Stark and then I slept maybe four hours? It’s fine, I don’t need as much sleep as you.”

Adrien gave him a sceptical look that went unnoticed by his friend. “You weren’t kidding about the suit redesigning, huh?”

“Why would I lie about that? No thanks to Felix, I actually designed a whole new suit.”

Kneeling by the contraption, Adrien pressed a hand to the glass. “It looks the same to me.”

“That’s the _point_.” Peter tapped a pen to his bottom lip. “I changed its elemental composition after studying how the miraculous was created. This suit will be better suited to higher temperatures, magic absorption and retention, and I created several new types of web fluid.”

“Okay,” Adrien said slowly. “But do you need any of that? I mean, the suit seemed fine before.”

“I have new plans for it.” He brought his leg up onto the chair, the hem of his sweatpants stretching up to flash his ruby anklet. Adrien usually didn’t notice the jewellery Peter wore, but he remembered him mentioning something about Ned giving it to him. Adrien had met Ned in New York. He didn’t seem like the sort to have exemplary taste in jewellery, nor was the anklet really a universal accessory, but Peter seemed to like it. Or love it, granted that he wore it even when he was sitting there, wearing nothing but his grey sweatpants.

“Do you ever take that off?” Adrien asked. Peter glanced away from his suit printer to follow Adrien’s gaze, glancing down at his ankle.

“Oh, this? No.”

Adrien frowned. “It doesn’t look comfy.”

“Neither does your chunky ring.” Peter looked pointedly at his Chat Noir ring. Instinctively, Adrien twisted it, finger running over the silver surface.

“You know why I can’t take this off.”

“Then we’re in agreement.” Peter spun back to his computer, aggressively grabbing his mouse. Adrien wasn’t entirely sure what they were in agreement about but nodded along nonetheless.

He stood up, walking over to Peter’s desk, where a bag of candies were sitting. Without a second thought, Adrien popped one into his mouth, only to instantly regret it as his mouth seemed to burn at the intrusion.

“Whaah is dis?” Adrien panted, waving his hands in front of his open mouth as though it would make any difference.

“Yeah, don’t eat those.” Peter moved the bag away from him.

“Why do you _have_ those?” Adrien swallowed the remainder of the candy whole, coughing slightly. He could feel it burn all the way down his throat.

Peter paused, drumming his fingers against the table, considering. “Yeah, I think it’s time. Okay, Suluu, come get your candy.”

Adrien’s eyes widened as a glowing kwami zipped out from behind the desk, settling in front of the bag, fixing Adrien with a beaming look. It seemed to be a bird of sorts, not one he’d ever seen before, with a giant gem sparkling in the centre of its forehead. Almost like the gem that Helios had on his….

“That’s a kwami. The phoenix kwami. Helios’s kwami.” Adrien couldn’t get a handle on his spiralling thoughts as he looked to Peter. Peter wasn’t…couldn’t be….

“Surprise!” Peter did jazz hands and his kwami waved its arms in imitation.

“I’ve been waiting a long ass time to meet you, Adrien!” The kwami zipped forwards, hovering so close to his face that Adrien went cross-eyed.

He glanced around the kwami, Suluu, he realized, to give Peter a concerned look.

“Yeah, she swears a lot. Come on, Su, just eat your candy and let poor Adrien get his bearings.”

“You’re Helios.” Adrien was vaguely aware of his jaw hanging open loosely.

“You have a hickey on your neck.” Peter said, as though Adrien’s realization had been just as casual, clicking something on his computer.

“No, no, we are _not_ done talking about this.” Even so, Adrien self-consciously pulled the neckline of his hoodie up higher.

“Fine.” Peter cleared his computer screen of its various tabs and fixed his attention on Adrien, his big brown eyes staring into his soul, as per usual. “I’m Helios, I have been ever since Master Fu chose me to be. I’m the only one who can. Anyone else who tries would die. Ladybug knows I’m Helios but not that I’m Spiderman and I’m intending to keep it that way. I’m the permanent guardian of the phoenix miraculous. Any questions?”

“Um, yeah. Like, a lot.”

“Maybe we should sit on the couch for this.” Peter stood up, suddenly shooting a web up to the second level of his room and pulling. A white t-shirt came zipping back to him and Peter pulled it on, covering his previously bare torso. Adrien hadn’t even noticed him engaging his web shooters or if he’d just had them on this whole time. Really, he thought, his observation skills needed some work.

He sat numbly on the couch, Peter leaping over the back to settle beside him, his kwami not too far behind. Adrien had half a mind to nudge Plagg out but decided against it. Plagg had a habit of exacerbating situations.

“So you’re Helios, and you can do all that crazy stuff?”

“Didn’t you think it’s weird that every time I left, Helios would show up?” Peter shook his head slightly, leg jogging on the floor. “I know the masks have magic to prevent you from knowing my identity but damn. Observation skills zero.”

“I thought it was odd that you two communicated but you never told me about it, but I decided that blind trust was the way to go.”

“I can respect that,” Peter decided. “Anyways yeah, I’m Helios. I’ve got some super fun powers that I won’t necessarily get into because trust me, it’s _a lot_ but I’ve been trying to figure out how to combine my own suit with Helios’s.”

“I’ve been helping,” Suluu added, still smiling.

“She has not been helping in the slightest. She told me if I burn my suit she’ll laugh at me.”

Adrien’s head swivelled between them, uncertain of who to look at. Suluu was bright and sparkling and naturally drew the eye, but Peter commanded attention in a different way. His unwavering confidence and the weight at which he spoke remained unparalleled. Together, he could picture Helios in his mind’s eye. Helios was ferocious in a confident way. Both that brilliant energy of Suluu and Peter’s blinding soul combined to make the fearless hero.

Truth be told, Adrien was terrified of Helios. But now he could see that Helios _was_ Peter’s most powerful form. His own spider DNA and Suluu’s godly powers were a mixture that seemed dangerous but obviously worked to Peter’s advantage.

“What’s it like?” Adrien asked.

“Being Helios?” Peter’s eyes unfocused slightly and, not for the first time, Adrien longed to know what was going on inside his head. “It hurts like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It burns with the kind of heat you think is going to destroy you but somehow doesn’t. However it also feels amazing. It’s like for once I’m not some freak who was bitten by a spider. For once I’m powerful and everything works like it’s supposed to. I can think clearly, I can see like a hawk, and I have strength like the Hulk but in a much smaller body. That being said, it gets easier every time I transform.”

“Your phoenix song, where’d you learn to do that?”

“It’s not something you learn, necessarily.” Peter glanced at Suluu for help. She swooped forwards, gladly taking the stage.

“The phoenix song isn’t actually that much of a song, it’s just called that because of it’s unique resonance. In actual fact, it’s a scream. Using the phoenix song is both painful and emotionally draining, and it’s designed to be used as a last resort.”

“So there’s a specific timing to it?”

“What are you, stupid?” She tilted her head at him and Peter’s hand shot out, grasping Suluu in his fist and bringing her back.

“How about we not insult Adrien? He is in for a shock, after all.”

Suluu made an apologetic face. “Sorry.”

“It’s like Ladybug’s lucky charm,” Peter said, waving the fist that clasped Suluu in it through the air to illustrate his point. “Technically she could use it at any point, but it’s more effective if she uses it at the right moment.”

“So you’ve been fixing your suit to accommodate that.” Adrien glanced back down at the machine.

“I don’t _need_ the suit, it’s just far more convenient. And while the phoenix miraculous can’t be combined with another miraculous like yours and Ladybug’s can, it can be combined with my suit.”

“Hypothetically,” Suluu interjected.

“I have done all the necessary calculations.”

“All your calculations were hypothetical, you said so yourself.”

“ _Theoretical_. Theoretical physics. I used three-dimensional mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects combined with Suluu and I’s collective miraculous knowledge to rationalize and predict everything that will happen.”

Adrien just stared at Peter. “So you’re basically….” He didn’t quite know what Peter was ‘basically’ but he sure knew he couldn’t understand it.

Peter released Suluu. “I’m working with completely unexplored concepts and calculations that don’t have any actual bearing to real life. So basically, I’m doing working with things that don’t exist to try and figure out how the suit and Helios’s powers will behave with each other when combined.”

“Uh…okay.” Adrien brought one foot up to rest on the edge of the couch, fiddling with the hem of his jeans.

“Do you even know what your suit is made out of? And if you say ‘magic’ I’m going to slap you.”

Adrien knew this one. He leaned back, folding his arms across his chest, and fixed Peter with a smug smirk. “Leather.”

Peter and Suluu burst out laughing.

“I was just kidding!” Adrien said quickly, sitting up properly and waving his hands to stop them. “Of course it’s not leather, it’s….”

“Adrien?” The door opened and Suluu hid, zipping into Peter’s shirt. Peter himself flipped across the room, landing silently, and shoved the suit printer under his desk.

Nathalie entered the room, dark circles under her eyes but dressed in her usual pantsuit. Adrien could detect a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead from his spot on the couch. She did not look good but he was thankful for the intrusion nonetheless.

“Nathalie! You’re back!” He stood up hastily, glueing his eyes to her. If she took a few more steps into the room, she’d surely see the machine which would set Peter in a spot of hot water. Peter, however, didn’t seem concerned. He was studying Nathalie with a rather curious look.

“I had some business to take care of,” she said stiffly. “It has come to my attention that you are currently receiving a fourteen point seven in your math class. That is unacceptable. We’ll have to devote more time to tutoring you in the subject if you with to maintain your average.”

“I can tutor him,” Peter suggested.

“Yeah, Peter can tutor me. He’s an expert in hypothetical physics,” Adrien said quickly.

“ _Theoretical._ ”

“And what are his qualifications to teach you?” Nathalie folded her schedule across her chest, wincing slightly as she did so.

“I studied under Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner this past summer,” Peter said, his tone taking on that challenging edge it did whenever someone questioned his intellect. Adrien was beginning to think of it as his ‘genius voice’. “Although it has minimal bearing to this subject, I also studied certain aspects of neuroscience and the physics of time under Dr. Steven Strange. Any of these three men would be more than willing to affirm my story and vouch for my qualifications if you so desire.”

“Peter can do all the things we’re doing in school in his _head_.” Adrien gave Nathalie his best kitten eyes, doing his best to implore her to agree. “In _seconds_.”

“You have until the end of the month to raise this to a fifteen. If we don’t see an improvement, then we’ll have to cut down your-” her mouth twisted like she’d tasted something sour “-free time. Understood?”

“Yes Nathalie.” Adrien lowered his gaze to the floor until she’d left.

“Damn, what was all that about?” Peter pulled his machine back out, inspecting it to make sure his harsh shoving hadn’t damaged it, presumably. “Doesn’t a fourteen point seven round up to a fifteen anyways?”

“Do you even know how the grading system here works?”

“No.” Peter frowned and a second later his Spiderman mask was covering his face. “Hey Karen, can you access Collège Françoise Dupont’s files and tell me what my marks are?”

Adrien couldn’t hear his suit’s response, but a moment later the mask disappeared and Peter grinned at him. “I’ve got a twenty in everything.”

“Of course you do,” Adrien grumbled. “That means you’ve got perfect. You know, they literally _never_ give those out. To most people, a _twelve_ is good enough but not this household.”

“Okay, what mark do you want on your next math test?” Peter sat down in his chair and spun to face his computer, waking the screen up and opening up the command line interface.

“I mean, ideally, I want whatever mark will bring me up to a fifteen but math is my worst subject. I just don’t have a head for numbers.”

“Just do whatever on the test and I’ll go in later and change your grade. I could change it now but that’ll look suspicious, especially since Nathalie obviously monitors everything.”

“No, Peter, you are _not_ hacking into the school’s database! You’re helping me study!” Adrien scolded him but Peter just laughed at him.

“I literally don’t even know how to teach you any of the stuff we’re learning in class! I do it all in my head, it’s easy! If you don’t get it, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Then _why_ , pray tell, did you tell Nathalie you’d tutor me?”

“Because it looks like she’s going through drug withdrawal.” Peter sent away the little black box on his screen and frowned, almost like he was considering. “I should study the effects being a miraculous user has on the brain!”

“Can you focus for two seconds?” Adrien huffed. Adrien didn’t understand how his brain jumped about like that, from one topic to the next; drug withdrawal to miraculous within a split second.

“Focus on what?” Peter blinked at him, like he’d forgotten what they were talking about. And maybe he had. His attention was constantly wavering, like a flag in the breeze. “Oh right, my suit.”

Dumbfounded, Adrien watched as Peter walked over to the machine, pressing a button on its surface that opened the glass top right up. A fully formed Spiderman suit sat there waiting for him, its colours slightly brighter than his old one but no other noticeable differences.

Peter grabbed his spider pendant necklace off the desk and pressed it to the spider on his suit. Before Adrien’s very eyes, the suit dissolved into the necklace and Peter strung it back around his neck.

“Karen, set suit two as default suit, rename to Heat Resist with wsptv104 and compv606.” Adrien had no idea what those sets of numbers and letters meant, but Peter cracked his neck before shaking his arms out and letting the new Spidey suit stretch over him. The transformation was faster this time, covering Peter’s entire body within the blink of an eye. As soon as it was done, Peter jumped up and down, landing noiselessly, then ran up and down the room, as though he was a child trying on a new pair of trainers. Adrien bit back a grin at his own mental realization.

“What’d you say to going for a little run?” Peter flexed his fingers in front of himself, mask vanishing into the neckline, revealing his grin.

“I don’t know…,” Adrien said, shuffling his feet. “Nathalie is back now and she’s probably expecting us to get started on the math right away.”

“I’ll quiz you while we’re running. Suit up.”

He sighed before calling on Plagg who was rather offended to be roused from his slumber in Adrien’s hoodie pocket. Seconds later he was Chat Noir once again.

“We’ll be back in a bit, Su!” Peter was fully Spiderman once more as he balanced effortlessly on the window’s edge.

“Aren’t you bringing her to test out their compatibility?” Adrien glanced up at him.

“Nah, I won’t do that with you here. The less in my immediate vicinity to accidentally set fire to, the better. Your hickey is like, _super_ visible with the suit, by the way. Just hope we don’t run into anyone with a camera.”

Adrien blushed, rubbing his neck as Spiderman leapt out the window, swinging off, a red and blue spot against the grey sky.

* * *

Marinette was putting the finishing touches on her holiday dress when her phone chimed. Her superhero phone, that was. She sighed, releasing a velvety sleeve, allowing it to hang back at the mannequin’s side as she grabbed her phone.

**[ going for a little midday stroll with chat if you care to join ]**

She turned her phone off without bothering to respond to Spiderman’s message, glancing at Tikki. Tikki was still mad at her after the events of the previous night, and Marinette had gotten an earful and a half about responsibility. The kwami was looking out the window, refusing to face her.

It was bad enough she’d had to keep her hair down and cover her neck with about four layers of makeup before she could even face her parents in the morning, even before she’d gotten her lecture from Tikki. And now she was almost dreading seeing Chat again. Not many words had been exchanged after…the previous night’s ‘events’ before they’d returned home and now Marinette had no idea how to act around him.

Deciding it was best to leave her kwami to glare out at the outside world, Marinette headed down to the bakery, leaving both her superhero phone and her sewing project behind. Maybe she just needed to spend a day being a normal girl, hanging out with her parents or Alya or something.

Like he’d been sent from the gods above, Peter Parker was in the bakery when Marinette entered. She made move to approach him before someone came up behind him and she froze, wondering if there was any way to surreptitiously slip back out the door.

Peter and _Chat Noir_ were hanging out. Where was Spiderman? Maybe they’d left him outside? She didn’t quite know or care, because her heartbeat was erratically thudding in her ears.

“Marinette!” Peter waved to her, a brilliant smile on his face. Chat, who’d been examining some pastries, fixed her with his usual mischievous grin that forcibly shoved butterflies into her stomach.

She was Marinette, not Ladybug, and there was nothing but friendship between Marinette and Chat. She just had to remember that and act accordingly.

“Heyyyy guys!” She ignored her father’s questioning glance as she joined the two boys. “I wasn’t aware you two were…friends?”

“This is work sanctioned,” Peter said, grabbing a loaf of bread. “Spiderman is testing a new suit so I’ve got to hang around and observe. Chat here is just hanging out with Spiderman because he’s clingy.”

Chat glared. “I’m clingy? Spiderman’s practically got you on a leash.”

“It’s called having a job. I know you don’t understand the concept since you just put on that stupid suit and run around and pine after Ladybug, but some of us have professional responsibilities.” Peter shot him a narrow-eyed look as he moved towards the cash register. Chat made move to put his box of macarons too, but Peter batted his hand away.

“What? You _always_ pay for my stuff!” Chat whined and Peter froze. Marinette cast a suspicious glance between the two. Were they _just_ hanging out today or was there some kind of underlying connection? They certainly seemed comfortable enough to openly insult one another and pay for each other’s food.

Peter seemed to fumble for a moment before he was a picture of serene calm and control once more. “Yeah, I’ve paid for your stuff like, _twice_. You’re a big boy with your own bank account, so I think you can handle this one.”

Chat extracted a phone from his pocket, with much difficulty, and tapped it to the card machine when it was his turn to purchase. It was his superhero phone, undoubtedly, but Marinette was surprised to realize that he’d put his real bank information into it. He was really putting a lot of faith in the Stark security system.

“Well, that’ll be all for now. Thanks Sabine!” Peter gave Marinette’s mom a quick wave with the arm that wasn’t laden with baked goods as he and Chat turned to leave. “See you at school tomorrow, Marinette!”

“Bye Princess.” Chat gave her a little bow before he pushed open the door and stepped out onto the street, wrapping an arm around Peter’s waist before extending his baton and shooting them both up into the sky.

“Why’d he call you Princess?” Marinette’s mother wasted no time in asking once the boys were gone.

Marinette blinked slowly, trying to think of a reasonable excuse for why Chat Noir would call her Princess. “No idea,” was the best she could come up with.

“Those two are an interesting pairing,” her dad added, emerging from his prep area. “Although Peter and Spiderman are very close, so it makes sense that he knows Chat Noir by extension.”

“ _Why_ do you know more about my friends than me?”

“Peter and I are great friends.” Her dad folded his arms, affronted. “He brought me a signed photograph of Spiderman. He also got me marketing rights to a Spiderman-inspired cookie.”

“Okay, sure. I’m going to go for a walk.” Marinette grabbed her sketchbook before leaving the same way as the boys, grateful to just leave the house and get some fresh air. Unfortunately she didn’t have long to go before they crossed paths again. Her feet carried her to a spot behind the school where she’d usually go to work on sketches, but it seemed the spot had already been staked out.

She would’ve left right away, if it weren’t for the fact that Chat Noir was holding a flaming stick right under Spiderman, who was lounging on a web hammock he’d built for himself.

“What are you _doing_?” Marinette shrieked, running over before she could think rationally. Chat’s arm lifted as he turned to look at her, and she screamed as the flames from the stick caught on Spidey’s suit, sending the boy up in an inferno in seconds. Chat also screamed, dropping the stick on the ground where it sputtered out and scrambling backwards, his cat ears swivelling back to press flat against his skull.

“Where’s Peter?” Marinette yelled, looking around for the boy. Obviously, this was the sort of think Peter would consider the suit ‘not working’ and intervene, no?

“It’s fine.” Spiderman hadn’t even bothered to move from his spot on the hammock. “Peter’s up on a roof somewhere, monitoring my suit’s vitals. So far it’s conducting the heat energy as I hoped it would, and the webs aren’t burning or melting.” He tugged at the webbing of his hammock with one finger before releasing it. “My suit exudes a fine amount of oxygen around it, causing the fire to burn that up but not actually burn the suit itself. And if I think about it, I can make the fire go out.” He shut his Spidey eyes and a moment later the fire sputtered out.

“See?” He draped an arm across his forehead, swinging the hammock slightly.

“We had that under control,” Chat said. “Although I’m flattered you came to hangout.”

“God, read the _room_ , Chat. She didn’t come to hangout she came to draw and we just happened to be here. That’s her sketchbook.”

Chat mouthed the words along with Spidey, rolling his eyes throughout his silent imitation. A second later, a web shot out from Spidey and flicked Chat’s tail, causing him to smack himself in the back of the head.

“How did you see that? Your eyes were closed!” Chat rubbed the back of his head, scowling.

“Easy. My Spidey senses let me know when someone is ruining my reputation,” Spiderman quipped with a detached interest.

“I’m going to go,” Marinette offered, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. Instantly two pairs of eyes focused on her.

“You don’t want to hangout, Princess?”

Marinette glanced at Spiderman. Hanging around him while she was Marinette was setting her on edge. It was only a matter of time before he slipped up and said something he wasn’t supposed to and gave her identity away to Chat, she was sure of it.

“No thanks, I’ve got to…uh…help my parents out at the bakery?”

“Is that a question?” Chat quirked an eyebrow.

“No?” Marinette cleared her throat. “I mean, no! I have to help them out!” She turned, doing an exaggerated walk away before running off down the street.

“You’re back early,” her father commented when Marinette pushed open the back door.

“Papa, I just went for a walk!” Marinette subconsciously made sure her hair was covering her neck, an action that did not go unnoticed by her dad.

“I hope you weren’t hanging out with that Chat Noir again.” He squinted at her. “I still haven’t forgiven him for what he did.”

Marinette sighed. He was most likely referring to the time when she’d lied to Chat, confessing her – at the time – fake love for him to prevent him from figuring out her identity. Chat, ever the loyally devoted, had turned her down in favour of his love of Ladybug, causing her father to be akumatized. Marinette had never been mad at Chat for the incident, but her dad had the tendency to bring it up every time his name popped up in conversation.

“I forgave Chat a long time ago.” She moved past him, heading towards the steps. “I think you should too.”

“Peter says I should keep an eye on him. Called him a rascal.”

“Peter just says whatever he thinks you want to hear.” Marinette smiled at him.

“No, Peter says whatever you _need_ to hear. The kid’s super perceptive and he’s got a ton of connections. I’m telling you, Mari, he’s more than just pretty words and a bright face.”

“He’s also a genius,” Marinette laughed, disregarding her dad’s words as she climbed up the stairs to her house.

Tikki was where she’d left her, but it seemed she was done with the silent treatment. “Where have you been?”

“I went to go draw,” Marinette replied, sitting down and flipping open her sketchbook. “But Chat Noir and Spiderman were at my usual spot testing out Spiderman’s new suit. It’s either more flammable than before or less I’m not really sure.” She recounted what she’d seen to Tikki, who looked confused.

“I can’t think of why he’d do that.”

“Spiderman’s a special one, that’s for sure.” Marinette turned her attention to her sketch pad, carefully beginning the general anatomical base.

“Who are you drawing?” Tikki settled on her shoulder to watch.

“Chat.” Marinette wasn’t able to stop the smile that spread across her face. Her kwami noticed it immediately.

“When are you going to tell him you love him?”

“What!?” She accidentally pressed a little to hard on the paper, snapping her pencil tip right off as she spun around to face Tikki.

“Marinette, it’s obvious you have very strong feelings for Chat Noir! You can’t keep denying it to yourself.”

“I’m not denying it, I just don’t want to say anything of the sort to someone I barely know.”

“Don’t do that,” Tikki chastised.

“Do what?”

“Talk about Chat Noir like he’s a stranger. I know for a _fact_ that you two are intimately acquainted.”

Marinette flushed at her words, avoiding her kwami’s stare as she returned her attention to the drawing. “He’d not a stranger, but I don’t even know his name and he doesn’t know mine. And I like it that way, don’t get me wrong, but I’d feel weird saying ‘I love you’ to someone I don’t even know the name of.”

“Chat has told you he loves you multiple times.” That was the understatement of the century. Chat told her _constantly_ how in love with her he was and how he couldn’t wait to unmask her.

“That’s Chat. He’s on a different agenda.”

“Seems to me like you’re both on the same page.”

Marinette set her pencil down. “I honestly don’t think this is the time for worrying about this. What I’m worried about is being left out of the loop. Spiderman obviously knows a lot more than me and he’s sharing it with Master Fu, who then usually shares it with _me,_ but he’s gone silent! I visit him and he’s always either away or won’t tell me anything useful! I don’t want to blindly trust Spiderman and hope that everything just magically works out! Chat and I have been fighting against the Papillon for years and all of a sudden Spidey just swoops in and knows what to do and…and…and – argh!” She buried her head in her hands.

“I lo- really like Chat, but it’s distracting me from what’s really important. And what is important is stopping the Papillon.”

“I think your feelings are just as important as stopping the Papillon,” Tikki said softly. “Remember, the most important thing going into battle with the Papillon is having a good handle on your emotions. If you don’t understand yourself or ignore them, all the more easily they’re get out of your control and be weaponized against you.”

Sighing, Marinette put her sketchbook aside and grabbed her diary. “I’ll write them out like I usually do but _no peeking_.”

“I promise!” Tikki zipped away into the loft, leaving Marinette to write whatever she needed to get off her chest. Marinette didn’t even know what she needed to write. The page remained painstakingly blank for a good few minutes. But finally, _finally_ , she wrote down a short sentence. So short, only seven words, but holding a colossal weight.

_‘I am in love with Chat Noir.’_

Marinette woke up for school the next day with butterflies in her stomach. They hadn’t gone away since her written confession the day before. In fact, the sentence had been repeating itself in her brain again and again.

_I am in love with Chat Noir. Chat Noir, I love you. I love you. I’m in love with you._

She was right on time for class and she barely registered that Peter was standing in front of the teacher’s desk, mildly blocking her regular route to her desk, her mantra consuming all her conscious thoughts. Naturally, she tripped over the back of Peter’s boots.

His arm shot out to catch her, quickly rightening her back on her feet.

“I’m in love with you,” Marinette said before she could even think of what she was saying. The whole class laughed behind her but Peter, thankfully, seemed unfazed.

“No you’re not. Got a lot on your mind?”

“So much.” She shook her head, carefully extracting herself from his grip and heading to her seat. She saw Adrien, Nino, and Alya all exchange a confused look she chose to ignore as she took her spot.

“Please don’t tell me he’s your mystery guy,” Alya whispered.

“He’s not, don’t worry. Plus, I learned the answer to your earlier question. ‘Yes’.” She winked.

It took Alya a moment, right up until her name on the attendance list, when she suddenly let out an ear-piercing shriek. “Mari! You didn’t! I’m- I didn’t think you had it in you!” She gripped Marinette in a hug that Marinette thought was rather undeserved. Once again, everyone’s eyes were on her.

“I’m not in love with Peter,” Marinette said loudly, eyeing Nino with a piercing stare until he looked away.

“Then why’d you say that in front of the whole class?” Nino muttered. Alya aimed a balled-up piece of paper at his head.

“Alya, Marinette, do you two need to step outside for a moment?” Mme. Bustier did not look impressed as she addressed the two girls.

“Is that an option?” Alya asked at the same time Marinette said ‘no’.

Marinette resisted the urge to hide behind her bag for the rest of the day.

After a long day at school and an even longer evening helping in the bakery, Ladybug was finally a part of the Parisian skyline once more. Marinette took deep gulps of the chilly air, admiring the gently snowfall that had begun. Large, fluffy flakes were already sticking to the ground and most likely her hair as she swung along.

She was early, as usual, but she didn’t have anything better to do. At least, she didn’t, until she saw Adrien Agreste making his way through the snow, bundled up in a winter coat but entirely alone.

“What are you doing out at this time of night without your bodyguard?” Marinette whispered to herself, making the partially subconscious decision to follow him. Just to see where he was going, make sure he wasn’t going to be in any trouble.

To her surprise, he stopped off at her parent’s bakery, of all places. He emerged a few minutes later, holding a box of macarons and wearing a soft smile. He looked excited about something, and she followed him all the way to the park. Setting the box on a bench, Adrien checked his phone quickly before darting behind a tree. Now that was curious behaviour indeed.

Marinette had half a mind to get a closer look before a flash of green light lit up the area behind the tree and a heartbeat later, Chat Noir leapt out from behind the tree, grabbing the box of macarons before running off.

And Marinette? Well, Marinette was frozen in place atop the roof she was perched on. There was no way. No way that Adrien was Chat Noir.

But as she landed in the park and checked behind the tree, there was no sign of Adrien, and Marinette was forced to confront reality. There was no way. But there was also no other explanation.

She was tempted to return home and have a good cry over it, but she knew if she didn’t show up, Spiderman would go looking for her. So, sucking it up the best she could, Marinette swung her way to their usual meeting place, numb to the winter chill and anything that wasn’t her thoughts.

Luckily, Chat wasn’t there yet, but Spiderman was. He was staring out at the snowfall but turned the second he heard her land, despite the snow muffling her footsteps. His large eyes took in her expression, her body language, her twisting hands. And she just stood there, focusing on holding back the tears.

“Are you okay?” That was all it took for the waterworks to start. Hot tears, in a shocking contrast to her cold skin, burned their way down her cheeks as she shook her head, not trusting herself to say anything. But then a realization struck her and a bolt of white-hot anger flared up inside and she stormed forwards, shoving Spiderman as hard as she could. He didn’t even move.

“You knew! You knew and you didn’t tell me!” She yelled at him, swiping her tears away. “You let me make a _fool_ of myself over him and you didn’t tell me anything! You even sent fucking _Peter Parker_ to me to help out with my love problems when you _knew_ that they were the same person! You’ve known this whole time!” She weakly swung her fists at him and Spiderman caught them in his own hands, holding them in front of his chest.

“How’d you find out?” His voice was like the air that surrounded them, chilly and distant. The usual childlike happiness that laced his words was gone. Silence surrounded them, the kind of silence that snowfall brings. The sort that makes the world seem all the more larger and lonely.

“I saw him transform,” Marinette said, her voice trembling. “I saw Adrien out and I thought he might be in trouble because he’s never allowed to go anywhere at this time of night, especially not in this snowfall, and before I knew it he was transforming and it just _can’t_ be him! It wasn’t supposed to be him, Spiderman.”

Spiderman released her fists, apparently trusting her not to swing at him anymore, and turned away. “I’m sorry, Marinette. I didn’t want you to find out this way either.”

“I can’t do this.” Marinette tugged at her ponytails, wanting to rake her hands through her hair but couldn’t. It was all too much, all too sudden.

Spiderman turned back towards her, eyes searching her face. “What are you saying?”

“You don’t understand. He thinks he loves me. I can’t…I have to break up with him, Spidey. I can’t lie to him.”

“Why? Why would you break up with him?” Spidey’s eyes widened, then shrunk rapidly. Marinette could feel his hurt, though she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps not hurt, but disappointment. “You know him. You know all he’s ever wanted was to be accepted by people, to receive the kind of love he shows others! You can’t fault him for being who he is, Ladybug. It’s not okay.”

She pursed her lips at the mention of her superhero name. She definitely didn’t _feel_ like Ladybug in that moment, with her runny nose and tears and red eyes, but she could tell that Spidey was trying to project a certain sense of responsibility onto her. “He won’t love me for who I am underneath. I’ve tried and he just wasn’t interested.”

“You can’t blame him for that!” Spiderman yelled, a rare occurrence, and Marinette flinched. But Spiderman got himself back under control quickly, breathing deeply before speaking again. “He was in love with your other half and he was loyal to that love. Love means you see that darkness, you see that struggle within the other person and you stick by their side regardless. Adrien has seen you through all your ups and downs and he loves you regardless. Do you think he’d love you less if it turns out you don’t wear a red and black suit all the time? Does that _sound_ like Adrien to you?”

Marinette had to admit it didn’t sound like Adrien, but she didn’t know Adrien anymore. She couldn’t picture him side-by-side with the hero, let alone as the same person. She didn’t know what went on in his head. It was funny how her world could be tilted on its axis so quickly, like that. That morning she’d woken up, so certain she was in love with Chat Noir and there was a chance he could love her back as Marinette, now all that was gone.

“I don’t want things to change,” she admitted, knowing it was already too late. “I want everything to go back to the way it was before this whole mess.”

“You can’t resist change, Ladybug.” Spiderman’s tone held no sympathy. “You cannot be an immovable cliff against the rough ocean of change because in the end it’ll just wear away at you until there is nothing left. Change is neither good nor bad until you react to it. You’re convinced this is bad, you’re afraid of rejection, but then again, is it not what you wanted?”

Spiderman’s mask gave away nothing as he disappeared before her very eyes. Marinette didn’t know where he went, she’d blinked and he’d vanished. He could’ve swung away, leapt off the roof, but in the dark and the snow it was impossible to tell. All she knew was that the world felt so much more vast now that she was alone on that rooftop.

“Hey Buginette.” She didn’t have a chance to wipe away her tears before Chat was landing in the snow, the flakes clinging to his hair. He was holding the macaron box in one hand and a red rose in the other but Marinette couldn’t focus on any of that. Instead, she was staring at his face, imagining Adrien’s face looking at her. It was easier than she’d expected. Only now she was realizing the familiar sparkle in his eyes, his shy smile she more often associated with Adrien than Chat, the gentle way with which he called out her pet name.

He got closer and although all she wanted to do was run away, Marinette stayed glued to her place, eyes dropping to her feet.

“What’s wrong? I brought you macarons! From the bakery. I know you like them.” He moved to open the box and Marinette reached out, placing her hand on the lid.

“Stop.” She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, uncertain of what to say but certain she had to say _something._

That, at least, got his attention. He set the box down, placing the rose on top of it, and devoted all his attention to her. The poor boy. She’d somehow tricked him into thinking she was the one he loved. When in reality it could never be her. Would never be her.

“Did something happen?” His voice, ever so gentle, set off another bout of tears. He moved to wrap his arm around her and she sidestepped carefully, pretending not to notice the way his arm dropped back to his side.

“I saw you,” she managed. “I saw you, Adrien.”

He sucked in a breath, obviously prepared to state his case, but Marinette interjected.

“I didn’t mean to, but I saw you walking along and it was dark and I thought you might be in trouble since you were all alone. So I followed you to the park and….” She dissolved into tears, unable to continue.

Chat, no, _Adrien_ was silent for a moment, probably thinking of how to convince her that it wasn’t him, that he couldn’t possibly be a model. And she hoped he would. She had never wanted to be wrong about something so desperately in her whole life. Despite the fact that Spiderman had already practically confirmed it.

“I don’t know what to say,” he admitted. “Every time I thought about our reveal, how it would go down, I imagined this going a lot differently. Preferably with a lot less tears and a lot more swooning.” He paused, looking at her hopefully, but Marinette didn’t so much as crack a smile. “So, uh, my name is Adrien. Adrien Agreste, but I’m assuming you already knew that given that you…said my name and everything.” He scratched the back of his neck and the move was so _painfully_ Adrien. Marinette bit back a choked sob and sat down in the snow.

“Oh, we’re sitting now.” He sat beside her, eyes never leaving her face. “Okay, I know this isn’t how you or I wanted to find out, but look on the bright side! We can get the reveals all out of the way now, then we can continue from there. We don’t just have to be a duo as Ladybug and Chat Noir now, we can be together as Adrien and….”

She just shook her head. Shook her head and hoped he understood what she meant.

“My Lady? You’re not revealing yourself?” His tone carefully veiled his disappointment, but Marinette could detect it, just below the surface.

“I’m sorry.” She couldn’t look at him. “I can’t do this.”

“What’s this?”

“I can’t do you and me. I can’t do us. I can’t do our relationship. I’m really sorry.”

“But My Lady, I love-”

“Don’t say that,” she cut in. “You don’t.” She could see his brain whirring, putting together the information she was giving him until something seemed to click.

“Did I do something to you? As Adrien? Because if I did, I’m really really sorry and I’ll do literally _anything_ to make it right, I know I’m not always the best with social cues and everything but-”

“No,” she shook her head, beginning to feel like a bobble head. A crying, snotty, sad excuse for a bobble head. “No, just…now I know with certainty that you don’t love me under the mask. That you _can’t_ love me under the mask.”

“Is this because I’m a model, or rich, or whatever? Because that all means nothing to me, Ladybug. I’d leave it all behind for you.” When she didn’t respond he plowed on, his desperation beginning to creep through into his tone. “Am I not what you were expecting because I’m sorry. If Adrien isn’t good enough for you, please let me know what I have to do to be good enough for you.”

“Oh chaton.” Marinette stared into his green eyes, those green eyes she’d spent years swimming in. And now she was drowning. “Anyone else. Anyone but Adrien. I’m not good enough for Adrien.”

“You don’t believe that.” His voice dropped to a whisper and it occurred to her, somewhere in the back of her mind, that he was on the verge of tears. “My Lady, you’re the only person I could ever want. I’ve spent ages trying to be good enough for _you_. You’re perfect and I’m just-”

“That’s just it!” Marinette interjected. “I’m not perfect, and I can’t be perfect all the time! And when you find out who I am, who I am underneath the mask and the magic and the fake courage, you’ll be disappointed. And I never wanted to disappoint you.”

She stood up, reaching for her yoyo. Chat grabbed her wrist, his eyes pleading.

“Please, please can’t we work this out? Can’t we talk about it?”

“I’m sorry. I need some time to think. Time away from all this. I’m so sorry Chat, Adrien, whoever you are, but it’s over.”

His loose fingers released her wrist and he stumbled backwards, like he’d been burned. Marinette didn’t look back, couldn’t look back, as she flung her yoyo out, uncertain of where it would lead her, only knowing she wanted to be as far away as possible. She didn’t stop until nothing surrounded her but the darkness of the world and those cold snowflakes. The cold had never seemed so synonymous with loneliness like it did then.

* * *

Adrien couldn’t stop the tears that fell, nor could he control his knees that gave out as he sunk to the rooftop. The snow had soaked through the macaron box, leaving them soggy but he ignored this. He wasn’t going to eat them now anyways.

He barely registered his mouth forming the word ‘cataclysm’ before he was pressing his hand to the rose, sandwiching it against the box. They both dissolved under his destructive touch and it felt like his heart dissolved with it. He couldn’t recall feeling this empty, this numb, since his mother’s funeral. Five minutes must have passed, maybe more, he couldn’t tell, but he felt Plagg release his transformation and bury himself inside Adrien’s jacket. For once, the cold was bothering Adrien. It bit into him, and it seemed like no matter how much he tried to burrow into his jacket the cold followed him.

The snow was heavy now, borderline blizzard, and Adrien struggled to stand. He couldn’t stay out there, he knew that, but now that the supercharged energy had left him, he couldn’t bring himself to move more than a few inches. He’d already been out there for too long.

For once, the truth was blatantly obvious. His Lady didn’t love him back. She knew who he was and she didn’t love him back.

And Adrien gave up.

Perhaps dying of the cold wasn’t a bad way to go. After all, all he had to do was fall asleep. All he had to do was let go and fall asleep and this nightmare would be over.

He’d resigned himself to this fate, laying his head against the snow, and gradually allowed his eyes to close before he heard the soft crunch of feet on snow.

“I hope you’re not planning on dying on me, Agreste.” The voice sounded like it was far away and underwater as Adrien struggled to open his eyes. A pair of glowing boots stood a few inches away from his face, the snow melting around the area that they touched. Heat was radiating off this stranger and Adrien tried to move towards it, but it was like his limbs were frozen.

“Come on, let’s get you home.” A pair of strong arms scooped Adrien up, bringing him closer to that precious heat source. His head lolled back, the world blackening around his vision.

“She doesn’t love me,” he managed, although he wasn’t quite sure who didn’t love him anymore. He wasn’t sure who he was or how he’d wound up there. All he knew was that this stranger was nice and warm and he was going to take him somewhere. Home? What a funny word, home. Home meant love. The stranger must have been mistaken. Home did not mean love for Adrien. House? Home meant family. Did he have a family? Were they wondering where he’d gone? No, someone didn’t love him. That must’ve been them. They’d left him out there. Maybe this stranger loved him. Could Adrien stay with them? They could be a home. Such a funny thing it was, to love.

Love, love, love. All Adrien ever did was love. Love with nothing in return. Except this stranger. This stranger loved him, Adrien was sure of it. This stranger was home. They had no further to travel. Home was right there.

“No sense dying over it,” the stranger replied, but Adrien was gone. The world faded to black and he was once again all alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me almost crying while writing this chapter slkdjlskljd 
> 
> Hope you all have a lovely week!!!
> 
> Also edit because I forgot to say this first time around: a spin-off of this story (for once it’s done) is now in the works!! I won’t say too much right now since we’re still a little ways from done with this story, but I’m super excited about this project and I just couldn’t wait to share it with you guys :)


	19. Qui Vivra Verra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lil Doctor Strange cameo, angst (of course), plus some good old fashioned Russian roulette with Peter’s foot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating last week :( Things got super busy and then I got sick and it’s literally taken like five days to make this chapter readable :)))))) Also, I somehow only realized about an hour ago that I’d written almost all of Marinette’s POV in French so if something is grammatically incorrect, that’s probably my rush translating. Sorry!

Peter touched down in his own bedroom, cradling Adrien in his arms. Adrien was unconscious but feather-light due to Peter’s enhanced strength of the phoenix miraculous. His suit had been successful, and just in time. He’d managed to mix both his suits and was looking to show Adrien when he’d found him freezing on the rooftop, in his civilian clothes.

Needless to say, Peter could assume his talk with Ladybug had not gone well.

He didn’t touch down for long once in the window, instead swinging up to his bed and laying Adrien on it, releasing both his transformations.

“Is he going to be okay?” Suluu asked instantly, swooping down to inspect Adrien’s blue-tinged lips.

“I’ve got a guy on the way.” No sooner had the words left Peter’s mouth before a glowing circle opened up beside him, the portal admitting a tall man with salt and pepper hair, blue robes and a red cape. Dr. Steven Strange. He was the first doctor Peter had thought to call.

“Spiderman,” he nodded slightly at Peter before turning to face Adrien’s limp form. “What am I looking at?” He always was one to use their made-up names, a formality Peter had tried to break many times, always unsuccessfully.

“Prolonged exposure to…that.” Peter gestured out the window at the snowstorm. Dr. Strange glanced out it with a neutral expression before returning his attention to Adrien.

“Why didn’t you call me sooner?” He shoved Peter’s blankets out of the way, beginning to strip Adrien out of his wet clothes.

“I called as soon as I could!” Peter scrambled to help the doctor. “Literally as soon as I got to him!”

“Then you should’ve gotten back here faster.” Dr. Strange shot him an indecipherable look. It was a mixture of neutrality and displeasure, and Peter withered slightly under it.

“Can you help him?”

“Obviously. You wouldn’t have called me if you didn’t have total faith I could fix it.” He had a point.

Dr. Strange pulled his fists across his chest and a gold disc erupted from each fist, circling them. He carefully ran his hands down the air above Adrien’s shivering body, not touching him at any point, but Peter knew what he was doing. He was reversing the effects of the cold on Adrien’s body. One of the perks of holding the time stone, Peter figured. Sure, there were ‘normal’ ways to fix Adrien, but this was easily the fastest and most secure way. 

And before Peter’s very eyes, the colour returned to Adrien’s cheeks, his hair dried, he stopped shivering as he looked more like his usual self opposed to a corpse. Dr. Strange gave Peter the closest thing to a smile Peter had ever seen him make. Satisfaction of a job well done. Not to be confused with happiness. The doctor never showed any unrestrained emotion.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“It’s been awhile since I’ve used my M.D. Always good to remember my humble doctor roots, I guess.” His tone held notes of sarcasm as he opened another glowing portal. “Tell Stark next time you see him that I do not read his emails and he should stop sending them.”

“Will do,” Peter agreed, giving the doctor a quick handshake, knowing full well he would be doing no such thing.

“What the hell?” Adrien sat up on the bed as Dr. Strange strolled into his portal, closing his passage to Paris with two extended fingers.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Care to tell me why there was a strange guy in your bedroom and why I’m naked in your bed?” Adrien scrambled to grab Peter’s blankets, pulling them up over his body.

“He was one of my doctor friends and he saved your life, so you’re welcome.” Peter turned away, walking to the edge of the loft and lightly leaping down to the main floor before wandering over to close the windows. Any moment now, Adrien was going to remember what had gone down between him and Ladybug and…

“She broke up with me!” Peter heard the telltale sounds of sobs. _There it is._

“I’m sorry, I really am.” Walking back up the steps, Peter detoured to his closet to grab some more clothes for Adrien, throwing them at the crying boy on his bed. “I tried talking to her but she didn’t listen to me anymore than she listened to you, apparently.”

“She said-she said she would be a disappointment to me!” Adrien rocked forwards, gripping Peter’s blanket to his face, soaking it with tears, ignoring the clothes Peter continued to move closer to him, hoping he would get the hint. “Peter, I love her!”

“I know you do. Please put some clothes on then we can talk about this properly.” Peter hated being the voice of reason but someone had to do it, and a hysterical Adrien was the furthest thing from coherent at that point.

Adrien let out a shuddering sigh before pulling on the clothes Peter had placed on the bed, breaths hiccuping between sniffles. His face was already streaked and red from tears. Once he was dressed, Peter sat beside him in the bed, eyes searching Adrien’s face. His best friend looked absolutely destroyed. Peter had never experienced romantic heartbreak and given his friend’s shattered demeanour, he didn’t ever want to.

The blond recounted the details of his breakup, occasionally dissolving into tears and drowning the remainder of his sentences. But eventually he managed to get it all out, albeit a bit fuzzy after Ladybug left.

“What did I do wrong?” Adrien looked at Peter with shiny eyes, the next bout of tears barely contained along his lash line.

“Sometimes you can do everything right and still things won’t go the way you want them to. I don’t think you did anything wrong, Adri. Sometimes we let our emotions get the best of us and I think Ladybug was just in shock. What she did was dumb but I think you gave her quite the surprise.”

“Do you think she still likes me?”

Peter chewed the inside of his cheek trying to think of how to respond. He was fairly certain Marinette was just as infatuated with Adrien/Chat as she had been the day he’d met her, but she had an odd way of reacting, almost like she refused to validate her own emotions. She was afraid, he knew that, and he understood it. But he didn’t know how to make Adrien understand too.

“I think so, but it’s probably best we give her the space she wants for now. It’s hard, I know, but sometimes you’ve got to let them go. Just let her go and hope she makes her way back to you.”

The look in Adrien’s eyes made Peter want to tell him everything right there and then, including Ladybug’s identity, but Peter held back, stuffed that desire right back where it came from. Still, he was finding it difficult not to get mad at Ladybug when he saw the effect she had on his friend. She’d met Adrien when his heart was already cracked and fragile, and her precise, calculated hit had shattered it entirely. Peter so desperately wanted to pick up the tiny shards and make Adrien whole once more, but he couldn’t. Some things he simply couldn’t fix, as much as he wanted to.

Seeing his friend in this state was effecting Peter too. When he’d seen Adrien on the rooftop, he’d thought he was dead. He’d thought that once again he’d failed to save someone who meant the world to him. He’d been so shocked he hadn’t even managed to produce his healing tears, nor sing the phoenix song, despite the fact it would’ve healed Adrien on the spot. It was a good thing Dr. Strange had been available, and Peter didn’t want to think what would have happened to Adrien if the universe hadn’t aligned to bring him home safe.

Peter’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, glancing at the screen. It was Marinette. Something burned in the back of his throat and he sent her to voicemail without remorse.

“It’s late, you need to get some sleep,” Peter said softly, gently pushing Adrien so he lay back in the massive bed.

“What about you?” Adrien’s hand whipped out, gripping Peter around the wrist as he stood to leave. He was still crying, and Peter didn’t think he would stop.

“I’m going to go sleep in your room. I don’t want you padding through the halls looking like that. Nathalie will get suspicious but she’ll be even more suspicious if your bed isn’t slept in.”

“You’re not going to stay?”

“I can’t stay, Adrien. But I can promise I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Peter carefully slipped out of his room and into Adrien’s, crawling into the boy’s bed before bringing the covers up to cover his brown hair and anything that would give him away as Peter in the low light.

He could still hear Adrien crying, but he wasn’t sure if Adrien was just that loud or if it was because of his enhanced senses.

“What are you going to do?” Suluu whispered, laying down on the pillow. Peter rolled over to face her, giving her a dejected look.

“My best. I can’t exactly go in and make it all better, now can I?” He tried, he really did, not to let his bitter tone slip through but it was too late. Peter hated feeling helpless, he really did, and he’d never felt more helpless than sitting there and listening to his friend cry.

“Peter, you know that their identities are something they have to work out themselves.”

“I know.” Peter rocked over onto his back, folding his hands over his stomach and staring up at the ceiling. “I just thought they’d be ready. I thought this would be the easy part. But now Ladybug’s being stupid and Chat Noir is crying himself silly and after he’s done that, he’ll close himself off and become numb. That’ll be hard for everyone.”

“You know they’ll never be ready, not really. No matter what you say, in the end they’re both scared of what they already know.”

“I do know that, actually. Awful inconvenient, isn’t it? Deep down, they know everything already but they choose to be blind. Ignorant.”

“Why would someone choose to be ignorant?” Suluu scoffed.

“They’re not like us. You see what the truth has done to them. Sheltered is safe, and their anonymity has kept them sheltered for years now. It is better to prevent than to than to heal but I could not prevent this.”

“No one could,” Suluu scoffed. “It’s not your fault they’re stupid.”

“I have no idea what will happen next,” Peter admitted. “Ladybug’s…reaction has completely derailed my plans.”

“Ah, well, you know what they say,” Suluu sighed, her glowing form dimming like Peter’s very own portable mood light. “Qui vivra verra.”

Peter let out a hollow sigh, squirming under his blankets to get comfy. “Qui vivra verra, indeed.”

* * *

Marinette made it home through a blur of tears, landing on her bed and immediately collapsing as her magic left her. Tikki popped out of her earrings and fixed her with a sympathetic expression but didn’t say anything, leaving room for Marinette to speak first.

“Adrien is Chat Noir,” she said slowly. Now that she was back home and secure, the realization was beginning to hit in full. Marinette lay back, her eyes falling on the photo of Adrien she had taped above her bed. Even here she couldn’t escape him.

Her mind replayed the way his green eyes had filled with tears, only this time it was Adrien’s eyes, not Chat’s. Adrien’s hands that held the rose. Adrien who tried to put his arm around her. Adrien, Adrien, Adrien.

It had been him all along. Her secret boyfriend, her partner in saving the world, her best friend. Adrien Agreste.

It was Adrien Agreste who she’d turned down for years only to pine over in her civilian clothes. It was Adrien Agreste who she’d kissed all those times. It was Adrien Agreste who, only the night before, she’d – no, she didn’t want to think about it. But that didn’t change the fact that it had very much happened.

“ _Is it not what you wanted?_ ” Spiderman’s words echoed back at her, and Marinette choked back another sob. Everything should’ve made sense now; Adrien was Chat. The two boys she loved the most in the world were one. She should’ve been elated.

But any potential elation was robbed by the fact that she knew with certainty that Adrien didn’t love her, not really, and he’d turn his back on her once he realized just how much of a fucking disaster Marinette was.

All that was made so much harder by the fact that Marinette loved him beyond words. She’d loved Adrien and then she’d loved Chat and now she could love Adrien and Chat together as one. But she could never tell him that.

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” Tikki said, her antennae drooping slightly.

“You knew, didn’t you?” Marinette said softly. “Why am I always the last to know? You know, Spiderman knows, Peter….” She paused. Did Peter know?

Then she remembered Peter and Chat Noir’s dual appearance in the bakery, the one that seemed ages ago but was only that morning. Of course Peter knew. Him and Adrien were inseparable in every sense of the word.

“I couldn’t tell you, it’s against the kwami code, but I wish there was some way I could’ve softened the blow. I’m sorry.” Tikki hovered dejectedly in midair.

“It’s not your fault at all, Tikki,” Marinette said, scooping the kwami up in her hands. “I just can’t believe I could be so blind and so foolish to think that Chat Noir actually loved me.”

“He does, you know.”

“Huh?” Marinette shifted Tikki into one hand and moved to take down her Adrien photos. It just felt creepy and wrong now.

“He loves you. Even if you can’t see it or don’t want to right now.” She swooped out of Marinette’s hand and phased through the floor, probably off in search of some cookies, leaving Marinette with her thoughts.

Tears pricked her eyes once more, although she wasn’t sure what she was sad about now. Maybe her tears didn’t always have to be sad. Confusion, betrayal, and loneliness were all she felt as she clambered out of her bed, ripping every last Adrien photo off the walls that surrounded her. The ones by her desk joined their predecessors in the trash can as Marinette cleansed her room of Adrien. She changed her phone’s wallpaper, her computer’s background, and her mindset before she allowed herself to climb back in bed.

Her and Chat Noir were broken up now, and it was for the better, she rationalized. But if that was true, why did she miss him so much?

She wanted to call Peter, to ask him if Adrien was alright, regardless of how that might compromise her identity. In fact, she pressed call before she’d even thought of the implications of her actions.

Peter didn’t pick up.

He sent her straight to voicemail.

Marinette awoke before her alarm, despite the fact she’d barely slept that night. Constantly tossing and turning, she’d beat her pillows into submission, kicking her blankets on and off when her body couldn’t decide if it was too hot or too cold. Everything was fuzzy and dark and she felt dreadful.

Needless to say, when Marinette looked in the mirror, her own disheveled hair and puffy red eyes stared back. Her head was already pounding. A cold shower did little to fix the mess and she wrestled with herself internally. Did she leave her hair down and hope it would cover her eyes even though it was a mess, or did she put it in a bun and display her post-cry eyes to the whole world?

It was decided for her when she realized the hickies Chat had left on her had yet to fade and she resigned herself to leaving her hair down. Her whole demeanour was that of resignation, the day already written off.

As much as she didn’t want to go and see Adrien, Marinette dragged herself to school, through the snow and all. Turns out she needn’t have worried, however, as Adrien wasn’t in class. Or maybe that was something more to worry about. Marinette barely glanced at Alya as she slid into her seat and set her head on the desk, staring blankly ahead.

“Where’s Adrien?” Her ears perked up at the question Nino directed at Peter. Was it just her imagination, or did Peter’s eyes flicker towards her? She couldn’t tell, but she slid forwards slightly to hear his response.

“He was here, but he had to go to the nurse,” Peter said, tone icy. He knew the truth, Marinette was sure of it. Adrien must’ve told him everything about the breakup and it seemed Peter was just as protective as he was supportive. The knowledge that someone had made Adrien sad was obviously eating at him, and he seemed to be extra full of restless energy. “Sick or something.”

His fingers were drumming a pattern into the table with a little more force than Marinette thought necessary. The uncharacteristically cold gaze he fixed Nino with sent tiny tremors down Marinette’s spine. She’d never thought of Peter as scary in his civilian form before and she still didn’t, but she could see the glint of his anklet as his foot joined in the incessant tapping. A reminder.

“Are you okay?” Alya leaned down to Marinette’s level, whispering to her. Marinette couldn’t bring herself to lie, so she shrugged instead.

“Didn’t sleep well.” That, at least, wasn’t a lie.

“Since Adrien isn’t here, do you want to hang out with us at lunch?” Alya offered Peter, who shook his head.

“I’ve got plans with Chloé. Thanks, though.”

This time his eyes _definitely_ flickered towards Marinette. _What the hell_? She thought, pushing her bag in front of her face to discourage prying gaze. She was probably reading too much into it. He didn’t know, and he couldn’t know. This was just Peter, always observant, always observing.

“Everyone’s so depressed today,” Alya sighed. “Did I not get some sort of memo?”

“I’m not depressed, I’m pissed off.” Peter’s tone turned biting. “Felix keeps fucking calling me at all hours of the day and night and I’m literally this close to simply smiting him off the face of the earth.”

“Dude, I think that’s called murder,” Nino chimed in. Marinette’s eyelids had suddenly grown heavy and she wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep right then and there. But she wasn’t going to, because she was a good student and she’d come to school to _learn_. It was bad enough she’d let a boy disrupt her sleep schedule, she wasn’t going to let him disrupt her learning too.

“I know people who could bail me out,” Peter said in a way that sounded like it was supposed to be joking but came across serious. Or maybe he was serious. Marinette couldn’t tell because at that moment she drifted off to sleep.

Adrien was in class after lunch. He looked worse than Marinette had ever seen him and it made her heart twang painfully. His green eyes were rimmed with red and sparkling with recent tears, his skin pale and devoid of its usual golden tinge. She’d always imagined him as the sun personified but now he looked more like the moon. Weak and recluse and waning away before her very eyes. He was dressed in the jacket she’d made him for her birthday and although he couldn’t have known, it was like an extra punch to her gut.

Peter whispered to him in English and although she knew she couldn’t understand it, Marinette strained to listen in. The only word she caught was ‘okay’.

Adrien looked so horrible that Mme. Bustier approached him before classes started back up. Marinette could hear everything she said with alarming clarity, even though she didn’t want to eavesdrop this time.

“Are you alright, Adrien? You don’t look too good.”

“My father said I had to be here.” Adrien’s tone held a sort of detachment that Marinette had only ever heard him use as Chat, and only when something was really bugging him. Marinette never thought she’d be the cause of that tone. “My mark in math isn’t as good as he wants it to be.”

Mme. Bustier bent down closer to him, her eyes swimming with sympathy. “Adrien, your math mark is one of the best in the class.”

“It’s not as good as he wants it.” Adrien glanced away, fiddling with the ring he always wore. _His miraculous_. Marinette ignored the thought. She’d ignored all the signs before, she could continue to ignore them now.

“We have a test today, but I’m not going to make you write it. I’ll give you full marks, you just put your head down or whatever you need to do. I know if you write it right now it won’t be reflective of what you could do. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.”

Marinette stood up sharply, shooting her hand up into the air. She needed out. “Can I go to the bathroom?”

Madame Bustier looked up at her, then nodded. Marinette didn’t wait a second before sprinting out of the room.

The second she was in the bathroom, Marinette barricaded herself into the washroom, sliding down the door to the (probably disgusting) floor. Tikki popped out of her purse, inspecting Marinette’s face carefully.

“Are you okay?” Tikki asked.

“What have I done?” Marinette couldn’t seem to lift her head from where she was staring at her feet. “You saw him, Tikki. What did I do to him?”

“Do you regret breaking up with him?”

“Of course I do, but it was better this way.”

“How so?”

“What?” Marinette swallowed with difficulty. “I couldn’t keep lying to him, Tikki! I love him and he deserves someone who is as amazing as he is and who’s going to be as open as he wants them to be. And I can’t be the girl I am in his head and that scares me. It scares me more than the Papillon, scares me more than everything I’ve ever done and ever will have to do. It scares me that I want to be open and honest with him but I’m not ready. I just can’t. And now I can’t take it back.”

“Mari?” A male voice called out into the bathroom and she stiffened, gasping slightly. Her gasp didn’t go unnoticed by the person on the other side of the door, however, and a moment later Adrien was knocking lightly on the door.

“Adrien?” She said softly, his name tumbling out through her lips before she could stop herself.

“I couldn’t help but notice you seemed a bit…out of sorts.” She could hear him slide to the ground on the other side of the door and she turned, pressing her body against the door like she could mould through and fall into his arms. Just like she’d done hundreds of times, only now there was the wall between them, the one he’d worked so hard to break down only for her to put it right back up.

“I could say the same for you,” she said, doing her best to keep her tone light. “I mean, I think I’m doing better, seeing as I’m not the boy currently in the girls’ bathroom.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Adrien let out a choppy sigh she figured was the closest he could manage to a laugh. “You don’t have to talk to me or whatever, but I’ve heard that misery loves company.”

Marinette was silent for a moment, wondering how much she was prepared to give away. “There’s this boy.”

“Isn’t there always?” Adrien’s breathing was ragged, almost choked. He must’ve been dying inside, but he’d still come to check on her. Marinette wanted to cry, and she might have, had her body not run out of tears long ago.

“What about you?” She managed.

“There’s a girl.” He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t have to. Marinette knew the story.

“I messed it up,” Marinette said, only to hear Adrien say the same thing at the same time on the other side of the door.

“No, you didn’t,” she rushed, dragging a hand through her hair.

“No, I did.” Adrien said. “I came on way too strong and she wasn’t ready for who I am. I completely, for lack of a less vulgar term, fucked it up. But I bet you were better than me.”

“I messed it up worse.” Marinette drew up her knees. “I wasn’t ready and I didn’t know how to tell him that. I was worried that he’d realize that I’m a disaster and not the person he thought I was. I tried so hard to be perfect around him but I can’t _be_ perfect all the time. I can’t be perfect at all.”

“Nah, your disastrous qualities are what make you charming,” Adrien said and Marinette smiled for the first time in the last twelve hours.

“Trust me, Adrien. You don’t know the half of it.” Actually he _did_ know the half of it, just not her half. She’d made sure of that. They fell into a comfortable, sad silence for a moment and Marinette allowed her eyes to flutter shut. 

“Can I tell you a secret?” Her brain attached the voice that cut through the silence to Chat’s smiling face before it retrieved Adrien’s, a fact that tugged at the corner of her lips.

“Anytime,” she replied.

“I was in love with her. Still am. I just wish there was a way to let her know that I’ll always love her no matter who she is. She said she needed time away from me, and I have to respect that. But I think I kinda had the opposite problem of you. I think I made her feel like she had to be perfect or whatever just to be good enough for me, but that’s not it at all. She could never not be perfect to me. No matter what she does. She doesn’t need to try.”

“Adrien, I’m so sorry.” Marinette hung her head at his confessions, guilt cutting through her. “This is all my fault.” She could make it better right now, there was nothing stopping her. She could tell him and get it over with so they could work towards patching things up.

“What? No!” Adrien laughed. “It’s not your fault at all, Mari, you have absolutely nothing to do with it.”

“No, I mean-” the rest of her sentence, and possibly her confession, was cut off by an alert going off on her phone. An akuma. She heard the same alert go off on Adrien’s phone and the sound of him standing.

“Sorry, I have to go.”

He was gone by the time she opened the stall door.

She suited up, ducking out a window, thoroughly unenthusiastic about seeing Chat. Technically, she’d just seen him, but he hadn’t known who he was talking to. This would be different.

Chat was already on the scene when she arrived, but Spiderman was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t spare her so much as a glance when she landed beside him. There was still a tear glittering on his cheek, but other than that his face was just as much of a mask as the black fabric he wore around his eyes.

“It’s the giant baby again,” he said curtly, gripping his staff tightly. “Shouldn’t take too long.”

A car hurled itself past Ladybug’s head and she ducked instinctively, eyes narrowing in on the giant purple and green clothed baby who was currently making its way towards a bridge. They’d had to deal with him twice before, and both times he’d managed an impressive amount of destruction.

The duo chased after the baby, but after a few minutes it became apparent that the silent treatment they were giving one another was not going to help.

Marinette opened her mouth, prepared to say something most likely in poor taste, when a streak of red and blue shot past them. Spiderman had finally joined them and he wasted no time in attaching the baby’s hands to houses on either side of the street before wrapping its legs up to prevent movement. It was a series of practiced movements after that; Chat’s cataclysm, her own lucky charm, purifying the akuma, restoring Paris to its prior state.

They all participated in a quick fist-bump (Alya was waiting nearby with a camera), all while Spidey and Chat remained uncharacteristically quiet. Chat left first to return the baby to its mother, and Marinette followed Spidey over a few blocks until he paused above a rooftop, not continuing but not landing either.

She dropped down, looking up at him and managed a slanted smile. “Good timing.”

His blank eyes stared at her. “You’re so fucking lucky I’m friends with a master of the mystic arts.”

“What?”

“I found him in the snow. It was almost too late. Not saying that was entirely your fault, but whether you’re a couple or not, we have to look out for each other. Chat has his own issues going on, you must realize, and whether you hate him right now or whatever, you guys were friends first. You can be friends again.”

“I think I messed it up,” Marinette confessed, ignoring the chirp of her miraculous, “but I also think I can fix it.”

“Well don’t do anything about that until you’re sure. No playing with Chat’s emotions.” Spiderman’s suit’s expression hadn’t changed, but now it felt like he was studying her, deciding whether she was to be trusted. She had the most peculiar feeling of being on trial for a crime she didn’t commit.

“I never-”

“I gotta go.” Spiderman cut her off. “My manager just saw me on the news and he’s calling me now. I can’t ignore him. Until later, Ladybug.”

By the time she’d returned to the school, a text was sitting on her phone.

**[ patrols cancelled until further notice ]**

She could feel Spidey’s disappointment through the screen.

Adrien was sitting in his spot when she returned. As she passed, he swiped at his cheeks, wiping away tears she wasn’t meant to see.

Needless to say, by the end of the day, Marinette was more than ready to go home and have a good cry. And so she traipsed her way home, barely listening to her mother’s account of the day’s akuma attack as she passed through the bakery.

“Wow. That’s insane,” she said vacantly. “I’ve got a lot of homework I should get started on.”

“Take some cookies with you. They’ll help you focus.” Her mother slipped her a box and Marinette gave her a half-hearted smile.

“Thanks mama.”

Her mother had neglected to mention, probably due to the fact she was entirely unaware, that Marinette had a visitor. Chat Noir was perched on the railing of her loft, sporting his usual grin, although it didn’t quite reach his distant eyes.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Marinette yelped, nearly slamming her trapdoor down on her head.

“Sorry, Princess.” He leapt nimbly to the main level, lifting up the door and helping Marinette up. She ignored the blush that crawled up her neck, instead walking around to her desk and placing the box of cookies down.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” She asked, doing her best to avoid his gaze.

“I thought we could hang out,” he suggested. That brought her eyes up to meet his. The mischievous glint that usually sparkled in his eyes was gone, and Marinette realized this wasn’t so much about her. Like he’d said before, misery loves company. And he probably thought she could use a friend just as much as he needed one.

“Depends on what you have in mind,” she smirked at him, doing her best to play a part, pretend that the sight of him wasn’t making her heart weep.

“Well, I was thinking of starting with a question. What happened to all the photos of that handsome model you had hanging up in here before?”

 _You little fucker._ Marinette couldn’t stop this blush, as it flushed her whole face out. She was probably looking more like a stop sign than a human girl at this point. This was Adrien being a little narcissist and mocking her at the same time. She didn’t think she could even handle it. He’d known about the photos all along. How embarrassing.

Chat laughed at her expression and angry sputtering, dancing over to the trash can. “Now what’s he doing in here? Did you two have a fight or something? Did he wear an ugly outfit that disowned him from the fashion community?”

“Shut up.” She crossed her arms over her chest, fixing him with a determinedly neutral look. Marinette was finding it easier not to pity him by the minute.

“No, please, I’m all ears.” His cat ears swivelled slightly to accentuate his point. “Tell me what Mr. Agreste did to get in your bad books.”

“Isn’t a girl allowed to change her taste in décor?”

“He seems to be the only thing that changed.”

“Chat Noir, shut up before I kick you out myself.” She spun away from him, marching towards her chaise lounge. In a blink of an eye, he was sitting on it, looking up at her with those candy apple eyes, the mischievous glint returning.

“Please, I’d like to see you try, Princess.” He winked. Marinette pushed his shoulder.

It was meant to be a playful shove, but he anticipated her move and dipped backwards on the lounge, causing Marinette to lose her balance and fall right on top of him. She narrowly avoided intimately acquainting her eyeball with his bell, instead landing on his chest. For a moment, neither of them moved, simply too stunned. And quiet honestly, Marinette didn’t want to. She was entirely prepared to ignore that this was _Adrien_ and instead just lay down and go to sleep, but then the worst possible thing happened.

Her mother poked her head up through the trapdoor.

Marinette felt Chat go completely rigid below her, as though if he didn’t move, her mom couldn’t see him. But it was too late. Her mother had seen them in their rather, ahem, suggestive position of Chat laying back on the chaise, Marinette pressed up against him with one knee on each side of his body.

Unfortunately, her mom recovered from her initial shock faster than Marinette would’ve liked her to. Preferably, Marinette would’ve liked time to remain stopped for the rest of eternity. “I think we should all have a talk downstairs.”

A few awkward, scuffling, moments later, Marinette, Chat, and Madame Cheng were all seated in the living room. Marinette was just glad her dad wasn’t involved. Yet.

“Anyone care to provide an explanation for what was going on up there?” Her mom said, fixing the two with a stern stare. Marinette glanced at Chat, but his face was red as a tomato and he seemed incapable of speech, a look that surely mirrored Marinette’s own.

“I tripped and, uh, landed on Mr. Chat Noir,” Marinette coughed out, looking anywhere but her mother and the boy sitting next to her.

“I’m more confused as to why Chat Noir was in your room in the first place.”

 _Good question,_ Marinette thought, remaining deliberately silent and still to let Chat know she expected him to answer that question.

“Your daughter and I are…friends. I thought I would stop by and hang out? I swear, we weren’t…doing anything…unsavoury.” Chat choked the words out, making the truth, the _literal_ _truth_ , sound like a lie. Marinette groaned and smacked her forehead. _Unsavoury? Who says that?_

“Do you two…hang out…often?” Her mother pressed.

“No, not that much.”

“Mama, this is ridiculous. Chat is dating Ladybug.”

“Actually, we broke up,” Chat said, tone losing its floundering feeling and returning to that of sadness. _Wrong thing to say, Marinette._

And yet, she opened her mouth again. “Are you sure?” She blurted before she was even aware of what she was saying. She’d meant to make it sound like she hadn’t known, but instead she just sounded insensitive.

“Very sure.” Chat met her gaze, frowning. “That’s why I was here. I could’ve used a friend right now.”

“I’m sorry.” Her mom’s gaze softened. “If you two keep it down here, I have no problem with you being here, Chat Noir. I’m very sorry to hear about Ladybug.”

“You know those days where you’re like, ‘this might as well happen’? That’s my whole life,” Chat said with a hollow laugh.

“You’re welcome here anytime,” Madame Cheng said, giving the pair a smile before heading back out. “As long as you use the front door.”

“Well, that was….” Marinette said.

“Embarrassing?” Chat offered.

“I was going to go with ‘awkward’, but that works too. If you’re going to drop in in the future, keep coming in through my skylight, though. I don’t want them to get…ideas.”

“Ideas?” Chat folded his hands under his chin, raising one masked eyebrow as he watched her. Good to know he’d recovered enough to regain his usual flirtatious attitude.

“The usual, you know, young men with questionable intentions coming to hang out in my room all the time.”

“You point out those men with questionable intentions and I’ll make sure they never bother you again, cat’s honour.”

“It’s mainly just you, if we’re being honest.” She walked over to the kitchen area, grabbing two oranges, one which she tossed to Chat and the other which she kept for herself, leaning against the counter to peel it instead of rejoining him on the couch.

“Me? Questionable intentions? Never.” He placed a dramatic hand over his heart before slicing through his orange with his claws. “I’ll have you know, Princess, that I am a man of pure intentions and pure intentions only. I don’t even know what sex is!”

She gave him a look. “Who said anything about sex? I was talking about you using me to fuel your pastry addiction.”

He recovered quickly. “No one, like I said, I don’t know what that word means. Could be anything. I know nothing about that subject, and that is my final ruling.” Puffing his chest up, he threw a piece of orange into his mouth.

“Did you want to talk about the breakup?” Marinette really, really, _really_ didn’t want Chat to put her through an unintentional guilt trip again, but the least she could do was help him through his hurt after she’d been the one to cause it.

“A lovely offer, but I should actually be going. Spiderman needs help with one of his science projects and I promised I’d be the test subject.” He grinned at the prospect, like he’d just said that Spiderman was going to paint his nails, not use him as a guinea pig.

“Don’t die or anything,” Marinette frowned, but Chat seemed unfazed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. That would be most unbecoming, plus Spiderman says I’m not allowed to do that anymore. Bye bye!”

She watched him climb out her window and disappear off into the sky, a smile playing at her lips as she did so.

“Seems like he’s taken everything rather well,” Tikki observed, popping out of Marinette’s purse.

“Or he’s just burying deep down like he does with everything else,” Marinette countered. “Let’s just hope Spiderman manages to do his spidey therapy on him.”

“Doesn’t he always?” Tikki lilted.

“Spiderman’s mad at me too. Or disappointed. I’m not sure which is worse. I’m not used to seeing that look on his face. It’s like disappointing my entire family all wrapped into one.”

“What look? You can’t see anything beyond his mask.”

“No, but you can kind of tell. The sheer impassivity and his lack of words tells me everything I need to know.” She sighed, flopping down on the couch. “Sometimes I wonder what it must be like to be him. He talks like he’s so much older than he actually is.”

“Old soul,” Tikki agreed.

“He reminds me of you,” Marinette said, glancing at the tiny red god. “There’s no possible way that Spiderman could be a kwami, could he?”

Tikki frowned. “If he were a kwami, I’d be able to tell. That’s a human boy, for sure.”

“Rats. That was the last explanation I had for him.” Marinette crossed her arms and sunk further into the upholstery.

“Somethings can’t be explained. However, Spiderman isn’t one of those. I’m sure you’ll get your explanation someday.”

“For now, I just want to be distracted,” Marinette decided. “Maybe I should finish that Chat drawing.”

Tikki shot her a knowing look but mercifully said nothing.

* * *

He’d put on a brave face for Marinette. That was really all Adrien needed to do. It had been good to see her too, despite her mom’s interruption. She’d taken his mind off things for a short time, and now Peter promised to continue that. He’d meant to coax her into talking through her own problems, but the mood had clearly been ruined after being dragged downstairs. It was a good thing that Madame Cheng was the understanding sort.

“What are we doing here?” Adrien glanced around the firing range, slightly nervous. Peter, who was signing various waivers at the front desk, glanced at him.

“Conducting an experiment, like I said.”

The place was empty except Peter, Adrien, and the woman behind the counter who took Peter’s signed papers and passed him two pairs of earmuffs. Peter slung one around his neck and passed the other pair to Adrien, who took them gingerly. It wasn’t surprising they were the only two there; they’d had to traipse through heavy snow to reach the place, as the roads were a nightmare and neither of them had felt like suiting up.

“This way,” she said, leading them into the back. Twelve lanes with targets of varying shape and distance made up the majority of the back. “This is the control room. I’ll let you get whatever gear you need, and I’ll be up front if you need anything.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be here with us?” Adrien asked.

“Why?” The lady glanced at Peter. “He’s perfectly licensed to carry a firearm. I don’t need to be back here.”

“Oh.” Adrien nodded, watching as Peter grabbed a semi-automatic and a few magazines, loading the gun with practiced ease Adrien didn’t know he possessed. “Sounds great.”

The woman disappeared back out to the front and Adrien whirled on Peter. “You have a firearms license?”

“I didn’t actually know I did until she told me. Apparently Mr. Stark put one on file for me. Nice of him, isn’t it?”

“But do you know how to operate one?” Adrien followed Peter out of the control room and into one of the lanes, keeping a distrustful gaze on the gun.

“Yes.” Peter didn’t elaborate. “I’m going to get a few shots out of the way to make sure my aim is still good, then we’ll get to the actual experiment. Earmuffs on.”

Adrien gulped, looking out at the black circular target as Peter lined his shot up, releasing the safety with a click Adrien could hear despite the ear protection. And, as unflappable as always with hands as steady as a heart surgeon’s, Peter fired the gun. Straight through the bullseye.

He released the entirety of the magazine, his hand stable as he riddled the target with holes, firing a smiley face into the paper. Pirouetting, he gave Adrien a smug smile and pulled his earmuffs off. Adrien followed in suit, minus the pirouette.

“Terrifying,” Adrien admitted. “What’s the experiment, now that you’ve proven your aim to be exceptional.”

“You’re not going to like it, but in case I actually wind up hurting myself I need you here.”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“Remember how I wanted to know if our suits are bulletproof? Well, given that I’ve got super healing, I decided I would try shooting myself in the foot to see what happens.”

“You’re going to _what_ now?!”

“Suluu,” Peter called and Suluu came flying out his pocket, giving Adrien a wink.

“You can’t seriously approve of this,” Adrien said.

“I think it would be really fucking funny if Peter shoots off his foot,” Suluu chirped.

“And I think it’d be really fucking funny if you shut up,” Peter sassed right back. “Transform me!”

With a column of fire, Peter disappeared and Helios appeared, twirling the gun around his finger. Adrien sidestepped warily.

“It’s not even loaded, relax,” Peter said, before promptly reloading with a metallic _krchtnk_.

“Now it is.”

“Ready?” Peter, surprisingly calm despite the fact he could be putting a bullet through his foot in the next minute, raised the gun and pointed it at the aforementioned appendage. “Earmuffs on and stand back.”

Adrien complied, watching Peter squeeze the trigger, unflinching, and fire the gun. The bullet pinged off his foot, the casing ricocheting off his forehead, and dropped to the ground, where Peter kicked it into the lane.

“So, no ouchie?” Adrien inspected his foot, cautiously removing his headgear. It looked fine.

“I guess not.” Peter frowned, looking disappointed. “Not to be weird, but I think it would’ve been really cool if I’d actually shot myself in the foot. Like, that would be a cool story.”

“Does your super strength and healing just make stuff…not hurt?”

“It still hurts like a bitch, I’m just better at enduring it, if that makes sense.”

“Sure.” Adrien looked on as Peter released his transformation and fixed a glare on Suluu as she rose up into the air once more.

“I didn’t shoot myself in the foot, so ha.”

“Lame.” Suluu stuck her tongue out. “I mean, it’s not too late. You can still shoot yourself right here, right now.”

“Thank you, Miss Bird God, but that actually doesn’t sound all that fun. There’s no science behind it in the slightest. Just pain.”

“Life is pain,” Adrien bemoaned, suddenly remembering his breakup. His attention span was short, and the second Peter was distracted by someone else, his mind went wandering once again.

“Another thing I’m right about. I said that Ladybug was going to learn Adrien’s identity first and you told me not to wish for drama for the sake of drama, but I was right and now you’ve got to expand my Law and Order watching time.” Suluu brayed happily, doing loop-de-loops in the air, her attitude the complete polar opposite of Adrien’s.

“I’m not letting you watch more Law and Order. I don’t like how argumentative it’s making you. Adrien’s just suffered an emotional blow, how about we treat him with some empathy.” Peter snatched Suluu up, mid loop, looking her dead in the eye. “Got it?”

“My condolences for your tragic loss, cat boy,” Suluu said, sounding like the textbook definition of insincere, eyes glittering with barely restrained glee.

“We’ll work on the empathy bit,” Peter decided, stuffing Suluu into his pocket forcefully and looking at Adrien. “For now, we’re done here. I don’t really trust you around weapons right now.”

“That’s probably valid, although I don’t want to touch that thing in the slightest,” Adrien said, giving the gun a look of disgust like it had personally offended him by existing.

“I don’t blame you.” Peter returned the equipment, leading him out of the building. “Fighting with guns and stuff isn’t really a passion of mine either. They tend to be far more fatal than I’d like. Unfortunately, being the apprentice of a former weapons manufacturer, this stuff is kind of part of the scene. You can’t fear it.”

“I don’t fear it,” Adrien said defensively, his voicing pitching upwards slightly. “It’s just not my vibe entirely.”

“Let’s head back home,” Peter said, waving down a taxi that had managed to make its way through the slush that covered the roads. “I, for one, could use a Parker homemade meal.”

A ‘Parker homemade meal’ turned out to be less of a meal and more of an experience, and it was an experience Adrien could have lived without. Peter decided to make salsa, and insisted that lighting the pan on fire (something he’d done entirely on accident) was a part of the process to make it ‘spicy’. Adrien didn’t even think he was supposed to be adding heat to the vegetables, but Peter insisted he knew what he was doing, even as he struggled to put out the fire.

Suluu flew around his head like a tiny halo, yelling instructions that only seemed to confuse Peter.

“Now add a slice of lemon!”

“Why would I do that?” Peter tossed the lemon she brought over back out of her reach, perfectly pitching it into the fruit basket despite his general disregard for spacial awareness.

“Because it’s perfect for salsa recipes!”

“I’m not putting a damn lemon in my salsa,” Peter grumbled and continued his ministrations while Adrien prepared corn chips at his direction.

“Hey Adrien, I think those chips could use some lemon!” Suluu suggested.

“I think they need some cheese.” Plagg chose that moment to pop in, shooting up and out of Adrien’s jean pocket.

“If you know what you’re doing so much, you guys can make your _own_ salsa and chips for all I care,” Peter said, flicking a tomato chunk at Suluu, sounding every bit like a dad reprimanding his child. His tiny, glowing, godchild.

“I can’t do that, I can’t cut anything and you said I wasn’t allowed to turn human anymore.”

“Sorry.” Adrien paused. “You can turn into a human?” This was news to him.

“Shape shifting is one of my capabilities, yes,” Suluu giggled. “Peter doesn’t like it when I do it, though. Gets him in trouble with Nathalie.”

“You can show Adrien,” Peter said with a distracted gesture of the knife he was using to cut up cilantro. “I would really like to see his brain get fried.”

Suluu smiled at Adrien, winked at Plagg, then closed her eyes. A small fire encircled her, and as it cleared it revealed a girl, godlike in her perfection. Her eyes burned, much like Helios’s did, before they faded to an intelligent grey as she watched for his reaction. Adrien’s breath had caught in his throat. Really, he had no business thirsting over a bird god, but it was difficult when she was right there and probably the most beautiful person (besides Ladybug) that he’d ever set his eyes on. Like looking at a dancing flame, she was mesmerizing in every sense of the word, so bright and beautiful it was difficult to believe she existed.

“Glad to see you included clothes for yourself this time around,” Peter muttered, eyes darting to Suluu before returning to his work.

“This body is a work of art, I shouldn’t have to,” Suluu complained. Peter used the term ‘clothes’ rather loosely, it seemed, as Suluu was wearing brown cargo pants, a black bralette, and a white mesh blouse that displayed an impressive pair of abs and actually covered very little. Adrien idly wondered what Plagg would look like, were he able to turn human. Most likely a lot less stunning, that’s for sure. In fact, Adrien was almost convinced that Plagg would make himself look a mess on purpose.

“You’re ogling like an idiot, Adrien,” Peter said. “Don’t burn your chips.”

“Sorry, it’s just a little bit weird that your kwami can _do_ that.”

“And I look good doing it.” Suluu struck a pose and Peter rolled his eyes.

“Okay lil miss thing, you’ve had your moment, time to be a good little kwami and transform back now.”

Suluu turned back into a kwami in a flash, and yet the blush on Adrien’s face had yet to subside. Wow, he really was attention starved after one whole day of the single life. Not that he was actually emotionally attracted to Suluu. She was just…hot. Very very hot, which was probably to be expected, given her predisposition to heat.

“Bon appétit,” Peter said when he served the salsa and chips. Adrien fixed him with a suspicious expression.

“Is this going to give me food poisoning?”

“Oh ye of little faith,” Peter said, pressing a dramatic hand over his heart, scooping salsa onto a chip with the other before popping it into his mouth. “Mmm, just like my aunt used to make.”

“Used to? What made her stop?” Adrien suspiciously acquired a chip of his own, eying the salsa with distrust.

“It’s a figure of speech. My aunt has never made this, I found the recipe online.”

Adrien took a careful nibble, surprised to find that it wasn’t bad at all. Perhaps even a broken clock was right twice a day, or in this case, his deranged roommate could occasionally make a decent meal.

“I’m a connoisseur, what can I say?” Peter bragged when Adrien didn’t instantly throw up on the spot.

“So, Suluu,” Adrien said hastily changing the subject. He wasn’t about to stoke Peter’s ego further. “Do you like being human?”

She bobbed in the air, thinking for a moment. “Yeah. I mean it feels so restricting but it’s also freeing at the same time. To be able to fit in with everyone else after an eternity of being alone… honestly I don’t know how I can describe it in a way that you’d understand.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Peter said, looking up at her. “When this is all over, you can be as human as you like.”

“What are you talking about?” Suluu laughed, glancing at Adrien. Adrien had no idea either and shrugged at her.

“Once we defeat the Papillon. As long as I have the anklet on, you have a corporeal form, right?” Peter chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. “So I’ll just keep it on and you can turn human and do whatever you want. You can travel wherever you want, I’ll get you access to the Avengers trust fund and send you to university or something. You could start a glassblowing business, hell, you could even be a lawyer like the people on that show you like.”

Suluu hung in the air, staring blankly at him. “You’d just…let me go? Like that? You’d let me become a prosecutor?”

“It’s obviously something that’s important to you. I’m not going to stop you. If being a human prosecutor is what you’ve got your heart set on, then by god, go do it.”

Her big grey eyes filled up with golden tears that spilled down her cheeks as Suluu flew at Peter, hugging the side of his face. Adrien himself teared up at the sight. He wasn’t really sure what to think of the fact that Suluu, a literal god, had a dream just to be human, let alone go into law, but it seemed right. Being Helios wasn’t that important to Peter, Adrien could tell. But being with people, fitting in, was important for Suluu.

Plagg was content to be a kwami and eat cheese for the rest of eternity, Adrien was _well_ aware of that fact. But Plagg also hadn’t been mistreated and used in the way Peter had alluded to Suluu being treated throughout her life.

“Peter, you’re my favourite!” She squealed.

“Yeah, I’m well aware that I’m the best.” He grinned, gesturing a chip offhandedly. “Also I want to buy a motorcycle and I don’t want anyone to snitch to Aunt May and you _cannot_ keep a secret for the life of you.”

“A motorcycle?” Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t those things crazy dangerous?”

Peter gave him a look. “Adrien, I do a lot of dangerous things already. Plus, motorcycles are more versatile, in my opinion. Cars have to stay on roads.”

“So do motorcycles,” Adrien reminded him.

“That’s just a suggestion.” He wrinkled his nose as Suluu settled onto his shoulder. “I’ve seen Captain America ride a motorcycle and he didn’t have to stick to the road.”

“Was this before, during, or after he was considered a wanted war criminal?” Peter’s silence following Adrien’s question confirmed his suspicions.

That was, until Peter actually did respond. “Is he not a war criminal anymore? That’s good to know.”

“I assumed, since he seems to hang out at your headquarters place. I figured a wanted man wouldn’t hide in plain sight.”

“Can you imagine trying to invade that place?” Peter cocked an eyebrow. “Talk about a death wish.”

His offhanded comment reminded Adrien of something. “Have you ever like…killed someone?” _Like Mayura, perhaps?_ He had no way of knowing if she was okay, since Peter was adamant about not telling Adrien her identity, just as he was adamant about not telling him precisely how he’d acquired the peacock miraculous.

Peter blinked. “Like…consciously? No, I don’t think so. Aliens and shit yeah, but not an actual human person. Most of the time, I stick to trying to save them. Loki doesn’t count, he’s never really dead.”

“What does that _mean_?” Adrien propped his head up with one hand, fixing Peter with an intense look. “Like, you can just kill someone and he comes back?”

“I’ve never personally killed Loki.” Peter widened his eyes in an expression of false innocence. “He’s annoying, sure, but I usually just sit there whenever we have meetings. It’s everyone else’s job to argue with him and occasionally Thor kills him. Sometimes Loki kills Thor. It’s always very interesting.”

“You have meetings? How much Avengers stuff goes on that I don’t know about?” Obviously family drama was on the table.

“Don’t get excited. I’ve only ever been to two.” Peter let out a sigh. “I’m the youngest member, behind Wanda and Shuri. Whenever they include me and Shuri in the meetings, it’s very restrained. Diplomatic, boring stuff like ‘don’t set off bombs in civilian inhabited areas’ as if I would ever do that.”

“Who are Wanda and Shuri?” Adrien only knew most of the Avengers by their superhero names.

“Scarlet Witch and the princess of Wakanda. Shuri’s cool, she’s an engineer who usually works with vibranium.”

Adrien shook his head in an attempt to categorize his thoughts. He’d always thought of himself as well-connected but now he was realizing there was an entire network behind Peter. His friend was only one branch of an operation that spanned around the globe, through governments and to the outskirts of towns. Was there anywhere someone could hide from a force like that? Adrien didn’t think so. He was glad Mr. Stark’s priorities didn’t seem to include world domination.

“Do you think you and Ladybug will be okay?” Peter asked gently, cautiously changing the subject. Adrien picked at his jeans.

“I guess so,” he said finally. “I mean, we always wind up being okay in the end. We’ve just got to go back to being partners like we’ve always been. And I mean partners in the strictly superhero sense.”

Adrien would take whatever crumbs he could get. It was more important than ever that he stuck by his friends. He noticed the way Peter spent his time staring off into space, thinking about something or another, and when he wasn’t doing that, he was preparing for the fight against the Papillon or whispering with Suluu. The looming threat and the fact that Peter obviously thought something was coming was gradually eating away at Adrien, yet here he was, mourning his breakup.

He’d already spent too long on it. He needed to move past it, and fast. They couldn’t afford him fighting at anything less than his best.

Paris didn’t need Adrien Agreste and his emotional baggage. They needed Chat Noir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay SO this fic is super close to being done!!! We’ve got about three, maybe four chapters remaining, so these next chapters coming up are going to be action-packed. Since I’m on winter break now, I’m going to try and get this finished before life picks back up, hopefully. 
> 
> But for now, the stage is set and I can’t wait to see what happens next ;)


	20. La Goutte d’eau qui Fait Déborder le Vase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter complains about capitalism n then some in this festive Christmas special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little Christmas gift from me to you...enjoy. And to anyone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, I bring you a chapter centred around the festive spirit and I apologize but still hope you enjoy all the same
> 
> I also bring you my guilty pleasure that is Peter and Chloé so do with that what you will
> 
> This chapter was conceived to the melodious sounds of Taylor Swift’s new album, Evermore ;)

The festive feeling had settled over Paris. Christmas lights mingled with the regular city lights, peppermint hot chocolate joined café menus, and certain songs became inescapable. Spirits were high amongst the townsfolk, gentle snowfall adding to the seasonal magic. Paris donned the inexplicable feeling of being the inside of a snow globe; the city transformed into a picturesque scene of all the jolly and joy the holidays seemed to bring.

Peter hummed along to the festive tune that played throughout the mall, arms already laden with purchases. In years past, he’d only had to shop for two; May and Ned. But this year he had a whole list of people to buy for and school-provided money to spend, so he’d upped his shopping game. That also may have had something to do with his current shopping companion.

“Oooh, this is cute!” Chloé swerved away from the main walkway, moving to inspect a dress on display in a store’s window.

“Chloé, we’re Christmas shopping. This isn’t _for_ you.” Peter shifted one of the heavier bags onto his other arm, fixing Chloé with a pointed look that she pointedly ignored.

“I _know_ but look how cute it is! It would look so good on me.” She practically drooled over the pine green satin bodycon dress. “You know how good my ass would look in this?”

Peter raised a sceptical eyebrow. “I’m sure your derrière would look amazing. You can get it some other time, though. I still need to get a gift for Adrien.”

“And me.”

“And you, although I wasn’t going to do that with you right here.”

“Well you can get me this dress for Christmas!”

He sighed, rolling his eyes as he followed her into the store. At least he didn’t have to come up with anything exceptionally creative for her present. Chloé was one of those people who was ridiculously easy to impress with a large price tag or, alternatively, satisfied with the gift if she picked it out herself. Even the four hundred euro marking left him unfazed at that point. He’d been saving up his daily allowances on his school charge card and was now blowing it all on presents. Why not.

“I’ve got to try it on,” Chloé said, handing him her bags to hold while she disappeared off into the change room with the dress. It was the same way most of the shopping trip had gone. Chloé would try on clothes she found cute, hum and haw over them once they were on her body, always inevitably deciding she didn’t want them.

Peter sat down in one of the leather chairs by changing rooms, selecting a magazine that sat on the table beside it. He didn’t think Chloé would be too long actually changing, it was usually the deciding part that took the longest. He’d figured out early on she didn’t actually care for his opinion, so he had no moral obligation to actually pay attention.

“Oh hey, Peter!” Alya’s voice was the only thing that prompted him to lower the magazine and he glanced up in surprise. Sure enough, Alya and Marinette were standing in front of him, both girls holding a few bags each.

“Christmas shopping?” Peter asked, grateful for the distraction.

“Figured we’d get it done before the rush starts.” Alya said cheerfully. “What are you doing here?”

“That’s a lot of bags,” Marinette observed, eyes widening as she took in the small mountain of purchases at Peter’s feet.

“They’re not all mine,” Peter hastened to explain. “Some of them are-”

“Okay, am I sexy, or am I just unbelievably hot?” Chloé chose that moment to make her grand reveal, stepping out of the changing room. He had to admit, she had been right about her previous predictions of how the dress would make her look. It seemed to hug all the right parts of her and the green went spectacularly with her hair. She froze when she laid eyes on Marinette and Alya, her mouth popping open into a perfect ‘o’.

“Hey Chloé, Alya and Marinette are here too. But you were right! Your ass looks great.” Peter gave her a thumbs up and she shot him daggers.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you two were…shopping together. How quaint.” Peter had never heard Alya use the word ‘quaint’ in her life. Her shock leaked into her tone as she caught his gaze, tilting her head slightly in a silent question. He avoided it.

“Adrien had a photoshoot, plus Chloé is always up for a shopping trip.”

“Well, we have some shopping to do too, so we’ll…catch you later?” Alya said, tone clipped as she nodded between the two of them.

“Bye!” Marinette waved as Alya stalked off. Peter noticed with no small amount of pride that it seemed Marinette and Chloé had made nice. Chloé really was making an effort, as promised.

“Great,” Chloé scowled, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. “That was horrid.”

“Utterly horrid,” Peter said in a snooty impression of her, pretending to dramatically toss his non-existent ponytail.

“Argh!” She snatched the nearest magazine, rolling it up with practiced ease, and smacked him with it. He held his hands up in mock surrender, laughing all the while.

“So is it a yes for the dress?” Peter asked when she finally finished her punishment. “Or do I have to find you another gift?”

“Alya was ridiculously jealous, which means I look amazing.” Chloé stepped in front of a mirror, inspecting her figure.

“I think the jealousy was more about us hanging out, not the dress, to be honest with you.”

“Oh, we’re hanging out, now are we?” Chloé gave him a wicked grin, leaning down to plant one hand on either armrest of his chair, getting all up in his personal space.

Peter cleared his throat, meeting her gaze in an unblinking stare. “I presumed.”

“Interesting, very interesting.” She reached forwards, fixing a lock of his hair. Peter, always touch starved, leaned into her touch slightly. It didn’t _mean_ anything. This was how he and Chloé operated, but nothing ever came of it.

“I’m pretty sure Alya and Marinette are still in the store,” he said softly, eyes never leaving hers. “If they were to see this, it might raise some questions.”

“Let them wonder.” Chloé stood back up, giving herself a once-over in the mirror. “I think I’ll get it.”

“You mean _I’ll_ get it.”

“Yes, daddy.”

Peter shot bolt upright at her words, blinking wildly. “Sorry? What the fuck?”

“I meant sugar daddy!” Chloé blushed a magnificent crimson that clashed horrifically with the dress. All Peter could do was sputter.

“Not much better!” He managed. “Someone is seriously going to get the wrong idea about us, you coming over here and bending over me like that and then calling me fucking _daddy_ the next moment, I’m-”

“Shut up, Parker.” She turned on her heel, marching back into the dressing room, leaving Peter to do his best to calm his own raging blush. He and Chloé usually mock-flirted with each other, but it was usually much more restrained. Maybe, however, he’d misread their dynamic.

Few words were exchanged in the time it took them to pay and leave the store. Peter couldn’t stand it, so naturally he decided to break the silence by poking fun.

“You look like a tomato.”

“I said _shut up_!” She snatched her bags from him in a haughty manner, walking a few steps in front of him, head held high. He barely stifled a laugh as he followed her.

“Come on, we’ve got to get Adrien something!”

“People who mock me don’t get to go shopping with me.” Chloé came to a dead stop, folding her arms. It was only due to his Spidey reflexes that Peter avoided smacking into her.

“I need your help, though.” It was true. Peter had literally no idea what to get Adrien for Christmas. At least Chloé was well versed in fashion.

She continued to glower at him.

“Fine. I am so terribly sorry for mocking you for your totally not funny slip up.” He fought to keep his expression neutral. “And I beseech of you, my fair lady, to help me pick out a present for our mutual acquaintance.”

“How could I refuse such a charming offer?” Chloé said in an equal dramatic manner. “Shall we?”

Peter lead them at a meandering pace, peering into every store they passed to see if he could find anything Adrien might like. “What do you get a kid who has everything?”

“Adrien does not have _everything_ ,” Chloé scoffed. “But as it is with most rich kids, the things they lack you cannot buy.”

Peter glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“All Adrien ever wanted was for someone he could relate to. He wanted a friend. You’ve already given him that. So no matter what you _buy_ for him, he’ll love it, since you’ve already given him yourself.”

“That was…weirdly poetic, actually.”

“Thanks, I speak from rich kid experience.”

“So,” Peter braved. “What would it be for you?”

“Huh?” She glanced at him.

“If I could give you something one can’t buy, what would it be?”

“You’ve already given it to me.” Chloé gave him a cryptic smile. Her smile sparked a thought in Peter’s mind, and he thought of the perfect gift for Adrien. A smile of his own spread across his face. A homemade gift would be perfect for Adrien. Just the right amount of personality.

“I know what to get Adrien. Or rather, make Adrien.”

“Arts and crafts?”

“Not quite.” Peter shot a wink in her direction. “I’m afraid I’ll have to cut our little shopping trip short, Mademoiselle Bourgeois. A project awaits me.”

“Godspeed, Monsieur Parker.” She gave him a little wave as he turned on his heel, running on out of the nearest exit. Two seconds later, he’d turned into Spiderman, sealed all his bags shut with webbing, and was swinging through the air.

“I must admit,” Suluu said once Peter had returned to the Agreste mansion. “I’m not quite sure what on earth went down in that mall. Nor do I know what we’re making Adrien for Christmas.”

“We’re teenagers, Suluu,” Peter said, like that explained everything, leaping into his chair and waking his computer up. “And I’m going to design Adrien something super cool. Like super cool. I have no idea what it is yet, though.”

“I’m so glad I was never a teenager,” Suluu said with disdain. “You’re all impaired in all regards. Can’t make decisions, act like an idiot, look stupid-”

“Help me with this instead of standing there and crowing on about how you hate teens. Adrien needs something badass.”

“Badass, opposed to Chloé Bourgeois’s ass, which I heard _plenty_ about today and-”

Peter cut her off once again. “Okay! We get it! Now help me with this goddamn present. We don’t have much time, and Adrien expects me to be with him whenever he’s home, so I can’t work on it when he’s here.”

“How about you make him a manual on how not to be an idiot? Like, step one: how to recognize when two girls who look absolutely identical are, in fact, the same person.”

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“I never claimed to be a creative genius.”

“Not to mention rather callous.”

“I also never claimed to be cordial.”

“For such a little bird, you have a lot of sass.” Peter eyed her. “It’s bad enough I have to go back to the mall later to get you your present.”

“And what could that be?” Suluu grinned, her little beak tilting upwards.

“No idea.” Peter whirled back to his computer. It was a lie, he did have her present all planned out, and he was certain Suluu would like it even more than anything he could buy her. However, he wasn’t about to reveal anything to her just yet. It would have to be a surprise. “It all depends on how well you behave these next few days.”

“Okay well let’s think. What does Adrien like more than anything? Besides the obvious.” Suluu, convinced by Peter’s story and now on her best behaviour, said.

“He likes his schedules.” Peter shrugged. “He likes…other stuff, presumably. I don’t know. Every year at Christmas I completely forget everything I could have possibly gotten someone. It’s like I don’t know Adrien until the twenty sixth.”

“You’re a disaster.” Suluu landed on his keyboard. “Adrien likes cats.”

“Well I can’t get him a cat for Christmas, now can I?”

“I like cats too, if you want an idea.”

“You’re a bird.”

Suluu scowled at him. “My kwami form is a bird. I’m actually a god, you nimwit. I don’t see you calling Tikki a bug.”

“I don’t know what she’s supposed to be, actually. Is she supposed to be a bug?”

“Hell if I know.”

“Great, well we’ve got absolutely nothing done on Adrien’s present! And he’s supposed to be back in half an hour!” Peter buried his head in his hands, groaning as he propped his elbows up on his desk. Why was it so hard to think of something for Adrien? “Maybe I’ll make him a nice pair of earrings.”

“What will the earrings do?”

“Go in his ears.” He started a program on his computer while Suluu flew behind him. The telltale whoosh of her transforming came from behind him, and Peter spun around and nearly fell off his chair at what he saw.

Suluu had turned herself into a near identical version of Adrien, the only difference being that her gem was now a ring on her middle finger, apparently the one thing she couldn’t get rid of in her other forms.

“I don’t want a damn pair of earrings,” Suluu said in a perfect impression of Adrien.

“That’s creepy, stop it.” Peter stood up, prepared to tackle her, but before he could, another column of fire engulfed her and then he was looking in a mirror.

Not a real mirror, of course, but Peter Benjamin Parker, right down to the loose thread on his shirt, was staring right back at him.

“Hey Peter,” Adrien chose that moment to stroll on into the room. “The shoot finished early and so we were going to put decorations up and….” His voice trialed off when his eyes landed on the twins.

“Hi Adrien,” both Peters said in unison, turning to face him in tandem.

“What’s going on?” Poor Adrien looked between them. Peter noticed Suluu shove the hand with the ring on it into her pocket, not that Adrien would’ve been that observant anyways.

“Suluu is being a copycat,” Suluu said before Peter could say it himself. “Isn’t she fucking annoying?”

“Shut up,” Peter rolled his eyes.

Adrien blinked, uncertain what to say. “Uh, ok. So, if the real Peter would just come and do the Christmas decorating, then uh….”

“Okay!” Suluu, in her haste to prove that she was the real Peter for no other reason than to cause problems on purpose, tripped over the floor and face planted.

“I love how I don’t even have to do anything and you wind up proving that you’re the imposter on your own,” Peter said with a laugh as Suluu, defeated, turned back into her regular self.

“Not going to lie, I totally thought that Suluu was you,” Adrien admitted. Peter rolled his eyes.

“Of course you did. Okay, Su, if you want you can wrap the Christmas presents we bought today. Just look up a video on how to do it or something.”

“You got it!” Suluu zipped over to the pile of bags, armed with a pair of scissors and a roll of tape, excited to make herself useful.

“That ought to keep her occupied for a few hours,” Peter muttered, shutting the door to his room behind him and Adrien. “And that’s the biggest tree I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The Agreste family Christmas tree reached up towards the high ceiling of the house, surpassing the second level with ease. It was massive, and Peter could already tell he’d have to use some very precarious balancing techniques to get the star on the top.

“Yeah, my dad likes to look festive. He’s not big on the holidays but he’s big on appearances.”

That became apparent when Adrien hauled the Christmas decorations out of a storage closet. All the baubles and ornaments were decorative and impersonal. Peter’s own tree back in New York was usually covered with ornaments he’d made as a kid, along with a mess of ornaments collected from god knows where. May had acquired a Cheesecake Factory ornament at some point, despite the fact neither of them had set food in the establishment in a living memory, it was always the highlight of the tree decorating experience.

Together, the two boys worked their way through decorating the tree. Peter took the top half of the tree in an impressive display to rival any gymnast. When it came time to place the star at the top, Peter grabbed Adrien, who was toting the decoration, and leapt nimbly up the wall, completely defying the laws of gravity to help his friend.

“It looks perfect,” Adrien declared as Peter plugged the lights in.

“We’re not done yet.” Peter nodded towards the rest of the decorations, mainly composed of wreaths, tinsel, and garland.

A solid hour later, Christmas looked like it had exploded in the Agreste mansion in a way that only a Parker could have orchestrated. It was a delightful mess, and Peter had made a side trip to kitchen to acquire some ‘Christmas-smelling spices’ to sprinkle haphazardly to create a festive smell.

“Jolly good,” Peter declared, planting both hands firmly on his hips. “I’d say we bagged that Christmas spirit.”

Adrien cocked a good-natured eyebrow. “Père is not going to be thrilled about the smell.”

“Well then _Père_ can decorate his own house next time, no?” Peter gave him a lopsided grin, dancing around, enthused by the Christmas spirit. “Let’s see how Suluu did with those gifts, shall we?”

“I’m assuming badly?”

“She’s a fast learner, she’ll have figured it out,” Peter decided and they returned to his room.

Human Suluu was sitting cross-legged on the floor, bits of scrap paper and ribbon strewn about her, tape stuck to every square inch of her arms and legs. But the presents were wrapped. And beautifully at that. Peter had been correct; Suluu was a fast learner and a determined one at that.

“That was harder than it looks,” Suluu said, eying the remainder of the wrapping paper roll with disdain.

“These look amazing.” Adrien cautiously approached the mountain of presents. Peter could tell he still wasn’t used to Suluu casually turning into a human just yet, especially since his own kwami seemed fully determined to only use his powers at their bare minimum. Plagg seemed reluctant to even suit Adrien up. The complete opposite of Suluu, who was happy just to be surrounded by people.

Peter couldn’t even begin to fathom what it might have been like for her in all the years within her self-described timeless limbo all alone. Although he couldn’t relate, he was determined to never let her go through that again. He’d do all he could to prevent it.

He had a few ideas already, he just had to flush them out, as he always did. The first step was finishing Suluu’s Christmas present.

“Thanks Adrien. It’s difficult doing all the work around here, though. What must a kwami do to catch a break?” She flipped her long hair over her shoulder, rolling her eyes dramatically. Peter frowned. He had the unreasonable distrust of her in human form, most likely due to her general attractiveness. Peter didn’t trust pretty people, especially people who were prettier than Adrien. Yes, Suluu could literally choose what she looked like and change it any given moment, but he still trusted her more when she was a harmless little bird. This version of Suluu had a permanent mischievous glint in her eye and a toothy grin to match.

“So, do you guys usually do gift exchanges as superheroes?” Peter asked, changing the subject. “Like, should I be getting Ladybug something?”

“I got her something,” Adrien said. “You know, before the whole…thing. I’m still going to give it to her because she’s a great partner anyhow, but I have no idea if she got me something or not. It’s up to you.”

“I’m going to get Ladybug a brain,” Suluu chirped, most unhelpfully. “She could use one.”

“You will _not_ ,” Peter said sharply, “be giving Ladybug anything, miss ma’am. We are trying to help Adrien win her back, not aggravate Ladybug and exacerbate the situation.”

“Okay, but picture this, we use me as a jealous ploy, and then-”

“ _No_. This is not our situation, so we will do nothing, got it?”

“Loud and clear.” Suluu turned back into a kwami, pouting as she did so.

“I was present for the whole conversation and yet I feel as though I’m missing something,” Adrien said, looking between them.

“Let’s go see what you got Ladybug,” Peter said as Suluu flew up to Peter’s bed, most likely to watch her favourite court show on the television. “We gotta make sure it’s not in poor taste.”

The weeks passed and Ladybug and Chat Noir returned to their usual friendly dynamic, at least when akuma fighting. However, Peter noticed that Chat used less jokes around Ladybug, generally removing anything that could be seen as flirtatious from his usual dialogue, lest it give her the wrong impression. But still, Peter remained caught between wanton glances that neither one noticed, both too afraid to make any sort of move. Ladybug still didn’t call Chat ‘Adrien’, but she didn’t refer to him as any pet names either. Chat Noir stuck to calling her ‘Ladybug’ and nothing more.

Their sullen silence often brought a damper on the whole group, and while Peter did his best to make enough jokes for the three of them, he couldn’t brighten their mood more than a smidge while they were together. Instead, Peter spent many nights wondering if guilt and sorrow had always been that tangible.

He still hadn’t apologized to Ladybug. He’d been harsh with her, he knew that, but then again someone had to be. Master Fu and Chat put her on a pedestal, to the point where the pillar that held her was as real to her as he was to his own self. She was always taking the moral high ground in an attempt to avoid selfish urges, he could tell, but it made her detached to her own feelings.

 _Is it not what you wanted?_ His own words, his own truth, was at the back of his mind whenever he looked at her. Despite how hard he tried, his protectiveness for Adrien had shone through. At every turn, all Peter wanted to do was protect Adrien. He saw Ladybug’s side of it too, though, and it hurt him. As much as he could understand it, he wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until all her shreds of doubt fell out.

But part of protecting Adrien was letting him live his own life. Ladybug wasn’t the threat he had to worry about. The breakup would be nothing compared to the moment Adrien found out who his father really was. Just another thing Peter couldn’t protect him from forever. Already he could feel the shift in Adrien. He’d been turning his attention towards akuma fighting as of late, eyes burning with hate whenever the Papillon was brought up. And Peter could tell why.

The Papillon was the physical manifestation of everything Adrien couldn’t have. His freedom and identity were barred by the Papillon’s very existence, his own emotions unable to be felt due to the threat of akumatization. Peter saw all of that when he looked at Adrien, and he feared the truth would break him. As much as tried not to, Adrien loved his father, even after he disappointed him time and time again. Because always, always Adrien was making excuses for him.

That was one thing Peter had promised himself. Never would he make Adrien make excuses for him. Peter would be there for him, so that when the time came Adrien would know what to do.

But deep down, M. Agreste was Adrien’s dearest love, and someday soon he would become his greatest sorrow, his deepest hurt and his most ruthless betrayal. But, just as Peter had told Ladybug, you can’t resist change. One can only hope for the best.

And Peter had a lot of hope.

“What’s wrong?” Alya asked him on the last day of their classes before the Christmas holiday. Peter must have had his face screwed up in concentration without realizing, and he quickly relaxed his features before replying.

“The holidays, you know. Just gets me thinking about…capitalism. And how the concept of Christmas and giving has been reduced to a mere marketing scheme designed to be one last cash grab for companies before the new year,” Peter said resolutely.

“No, no you’re not.” Alya said. “That’s not your I’m-thinking-about-factual-and-scientic-things-that-you-wouldn’t-understand face, that’s your I’m-thinking-about-something-deep-and-philosophical-that-you-wouldn’t-understand face.”

“I have different faces for those?” Peter raised an eyebrow at her over his lunch. They’d all gone out for lunch at a restaurant nearby their school as one last hurrah before Adrien was inevitably booked and busy as there was no school to schedule modelling around, and Nino, Marinette, and Adrien were still trying to decide what to order.

Alya and Peter, however, were the least picky when it came to foreign food, so they’d easily selected items from the Greek menu to eat. Spreading his taramasalata on his bread, Peter eyed the lamb skewers Alya was eating, wondering if he’d be able to beg one off her later. Probably not.

“You do, actually.” Alya set a now-clean skewer aside and dug into her rice. “I just know you’re thinking great things and I so desperately want to know.”

“Trust me, this is not something you want to be burdened with.” Peter finished his bread and pulled his plate of moussaka closer to him. “What is taking the others so long?”

As if summoned by his question, the trio appeared, Adrien grinning as he slid into the seat next to Peter, carrying as much food as he could possibly hold.

“I couldn’t decide,” he said, already proceeding to stuff his face, “and I figure this is the last full meal I’ll get since I’m spending two weeks at home.”

Peter watched the way Marinette’s eyes tracked Adrien’s every movement as he ate, daintily eating her own meal. She was worried about him and his lack of food, Peter assumed. Luckily, Peter would be there to provide Adrien with all the food he lacked.

“You’ve got me there,” Peter voiced aloud for Marinette and the other’s sake. “I’ve been meaning to learn how to make bœuf bourguignon and there’s no time like the present. So don’t you worry, guys, Adrien will be well fed.”

“I don’t trust you to make anything,” Adrien said. “You’re a menace in the kitchen.”

“Am not. It’s not like it’s rocket science, you could learn to cook too, you just don’t.”

“I don’t have time.”

“No excuse.” Peter polished off his meal, leaning back in his chair to eye Nino across the table.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” Nino asked, glancing behind him to see if Peter could possibly be looking at anyone else. “It’s not my fault he doesn’t cook!”

“No, I just think it’s cute that you and Alya are wearing the same shade of lipstick,” Peter said in a falsely innocent tone, grinning at the way his two friends blushed, Nino hastily wiping at his mouth.

“How do you notice stuff like that?” Marinette asked, peering at him. “A person can’t notice all that at once, they’d explode.”

“Hot take,” Alya said. “Peter isn’t a person.”

“You got me,” Peter said, exchanging a reticent smile with Adrien. “I’m secretly a sentient being sent from heaven to bless your lives.”

Adrien snorted. “More like from hell.”

“I’m actually a blessing in your life, Agreste, don’t forget it. But in all seriousness, it must be nice not to be noticing everything at all moments of everyday.” Peter looked around their group. “You’re all unreliable narrators in your own life! That’s so idiosyncratic!”

“I don’t even know what that means,” Alya diffidently admitted. Peter didn’t even know if he was using it in the right context, he just knew no one else at the table knew enough to correct him. Intelligence by comparison.

“Peter just likes using big words to remind everyone that he’s smarter,” Nino grumbled. “It’s rude, honestly.”

“Is it actually rude or do you just not know how to properly articulate yourself?” Peter gave him a smug smile. 

“Adrien, your friend is bullying us.” Nino grumped.

“Speaking of bullying,” Alya said, leaning forwards slightly. “What was up with you and Chloé in the mall?”

“Oh yeah!” Adrien turned to Peter too, just not for the same reasons. “How was that?”

Peter sucked in a deep breath, popping his spine. “I would like to speak to my lawyer before I delve into my accounts of any possibly incriminating activity. No further comment.”

Maybe Suluu’s law show was rubbing off on him, just a touch.

* * *

Patrols on Christmas Eve hadn’t been on Marinette’s itinerary. But Spiderman had apparently decided everyone was cordial enough to maintain a semblance of dignity now and had cited Christmas Eve as a time when emotions were running high. Marinette hoped she didn’t prove him wrong, at least on the behaviour front.

Things between her and Chat had been tense, and they hadn’t texted since the breakup. True to her word about wanting space, she only spoke to him when they were fighting akumas. Oh, and everyday at school.

She couldn’t lie and say it hadn’t been interesting observing Chat in his natural habitat. Chat grinning with his friends, Chat talking about his next photoshoot, Chat angrily telling Peter that no, he couldn’t mix those two chemicals and Chat dealing with the repercussions when Peter did, in fact, mix the two chemicals ‘for funsies’ only to have it start a small fire.

Not that she had seen much of him since winter break started, besides the constant uploading of promotional posts to his instagram account. Peter’s account offered much more insight to their daily life, however, and Marinette had taken to stalking it instead.

Photos of Peter and Adrien making gingerbread houses, building snowmen, and doing more Christmas-themed activities flooded her timeline, all accompanied by a witty caption by Peter that made Marinette miss the two boys all the more. Or more specifically, Adrien.

She would see him tonight.

To avoid thinking about it, Marinette spent her day helping out in the bakery and cleaning the house, belting show tunes to drown out the sound of her own thoughts. In a few short hours, she’d be seeing Chat Noir as Chat Noir and her as Ladybug for something other than an akuma attack. It would be their first proper conversation in awhile.

Her voice reached a screeching pitch along with the song she was listening to, an English one she knew every word to without knowing the meaning behind it. The emotions were clear, however. Triumph, freedom, power. All things Marinette could use a little bit of.

“Bringgggg me dowwwwwnnnnnnnn!” Marinette attempted to hold the note as long as the singer but failed, panting as she put away the broom. She felt a bit better.

Christmas Eve dinner was a lonely affair, as both her parents were working late to deal with demand. Marinette ate a bowl of cereal and a croissant for dinner, retiring to her room immediately after bidding her parents a goodnight.

 _Is this how Adrien feels every night?_ She wondered before reminding herself that he had Peter with him now. _But he might not have Peter there forever. Once the school year is over, Peter goes back to New York._

Like a bucket of ice water down her back, a chill spread through Marinette as she realized the future of the phoenix miraculous was not something she would be a part of. Master Fu had made some vague comments about possibly giving Marinette the title of Guardian when he retired, and she already felt partially responsible for Helios, no matter the fact that he seemed to follow his own agenda.

There would be another miraculous user on the other side of the world, doing what he pleased with it and she wouldn’t be able to stop him in the slightest. And a part of her was still worried that he would turn bad, as ridiculous as it was. Even though he’d proved himself to be exceptionally responsible, she still liked to keep it right under her nose.

When it came time to suit up, Marinette took a deep breath and inspected herself in the mirror longer than necessary. Breathing her way through it until she could safely say she was in the right state of mind to go see the others.

She grabbed Chat’s gift on her way out, looping her arms through the straps on the bag. Spiderman had already told her not to get him anything, and she obliged, not knowing if he even celebrated Christmas.

Spidey was there when she landed softly in the snow. A light snowfall had begun, a lot less violent than the snowfall of the night her and Chat had broken up. This snow was light and fluffy and promised hope of a white Christmas.

“Hey Spiderman.” She joined him sitting at the edge of the rooftop, trying to gauge his mood. It was a difficult feat.

“Merry Christmas, Ladybug,” he said, flicking a chunk of snow off the roof. Seemed he was in an alright mood, albeit a tad detached.

“Same to you. How are things?”

“Seasonal,” he said, eyes trained on the falling flakes against their dark canvas. “It always seems to rejuvenate me, leave me happier and filled with hope, but one must stop to wonder if hope is a profitable commodity.”

As always, he spoke in riddles, ones Marinette couldn’t wrap her head around well enough to decipher. Tonight was no different.

“A commodity?”

“All the gods of man have been made commodities,” Spidey said. “Daddy Communism was right.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”

“I don’t expect you to. However, on the off chance that you might understand, I like to vocalize these thoughts aloud. One day they might make sense to you, and you’ll realize that perhaps my ramblings had some merit. Plus, I’ve been told it’s unnerving when I sit in silence.”

“You ought to write an autobiography or something,” Marinette laughed. “Then people can pay to read those thoughts, and they might actually understand them.”

“To be understood is an overrated thing. In truth, that is my fear, that one might lose what sheltered innocence they have to the point where what I say makes sense to them.”

“Rest assured,” Marinette said, donning his serious tone. “I haven’t the foggiest idea of what you’re saying.”

“So long as one has hope, they can live through anything. Is hope within itself cruel? The Papillon has hope he can defeat you, and you the other way around. Everyone hopes that the world is a better place than what it has proven itself to be, and society capitalizes off of that.” Spiderman let out a long sigh. “All I mean to say is that as much good as it would do me to do away with it all together, I still have hope, although it doesn’t mean as much as it once did.”

“Christmas time is different for all of us, huh?” Marinette said, dangling Chat’s present off the roof so she didn’t accidentally set it in snow. Spidey glanced at her, almost surprised.

“Yeah, I guess.” He tilted his head. “Hey, would you mind if I took off after Chat shows up? I’ve got some last minute Christmas stuff to take care of, and I know things might be awkward between you two but I want to give you space to sort it out.”

Marinette had half a mind to tell him no, to tell him to stay, but clearly something was off with her usually cheerful hero. “Go for it. But, uh, if you need someone to talk to, Spidey, don’t hesitate to reach out.” She wondered if there was anyone there waiting for him at home, or if Spiderman went home to an empty house at Christmas.

“Thanks, Ladybug. I might head out now, Chat will get worried if he sees I’m worried. Merry Christmas, anyways.” He slid off the edge of the roof, letting himself free fall for a moment before he shot off a web and swung off into the night.

Not even a minute went by before Chat was landing on the roof and Marinette realized she was very much screwed. She hadn’t rehearsed what she was going to say to him; she’d been counting on having Spiderman there to act as a buffer.

“Hi, Ladybug,” Chat said. He was holding a wrapped box in one hand.

“Hi Chat,” Marinette shifted his present in her hands awkwardly. “Spiderman left already he was…not doing too great.”

“I know,” Chat said, his eyes never leaving her face. “I asked him to.”

“What?”

“Don’t be mad,” he said quickly. “But I kinda felt like our partnership could only fully repair itself if it was just the two of us. So I asked Spidey to come up with a reasonable explanation for him not to be able to hang around so that we could…talk. I just told him to talk about whatever and then leave when I arrived.”

“His explanation was something to do with…capitalism? I think? To be entirely honest, I only get about half of what he’s talking about at any given moment.”

“I mean he’s been on about that for awhile. I was talking to him earlier and he said he was doing some philanthropy stuff with Iron Man or something of the sort.” Chat rubbed the back of his neck.

“I, um, got you a present.” Marinette held out the bag to Chat, cheeks colouring as he looked between her and the bag. “You know, since it’s Christmas and all. I was going to get you something from the Agreste brand before I found out that you _were_ the brand.”

“I got you something too.” Chat held out the wrapped box. “Please bear in mind that I bought it before the whole reveal fiasco, but I still thought you might like it.”

They swapped the presents, avoiding touching one another as they did so. Marinette looked at him. “So, who should go first?”

“I’ll open mine first, if that’s alright with you.” Chat shot her a nervous grin, going to move aside the tissue paper to open it. Marinette waved a hand at him to tell him to continue.

He extracted the leather bound book from the bag, gently placing the now-empty bag down in the snow beside him so he could properly inspect the gift she’d given him. Marinette sucked in a breath as she watched his eyes trace the cover.

The scrapbook she’d made had easily been the most demanding project she’d ever undertaken. She’d hand drawn a bunch of the details inside it, as well as to recreate moments between her and Chat that there hadn’t been a camera around for. Despite the amount of time it had taken, she’d cherished every minute of it, going back through the memories of her and Chat’s partner ship.

Chat flipped through it and she could see his eyes fill with tears, the happy kind. “This is…this is amazing. How long did this take you?”

 _Long enough to realize I’m helplessly in love with you and no amount of time spent apart could ever change that,_ Marinette thought wistfully. Out loud, she said, “it took awhile.”

“This is art. I swear, I’m going to keep this forever.” He glanced at her over the book and she could imagine him thinking the same. Except it was only that; her imagination. Closing the book once more, she watching him run his fingers over the gold embossed font on the front. “Les aventures de Ladybug et Chat Noir,” he mused. “I like that.”

“Yeah yeah,” Marinette said, suddenly feeling the need to move things past the subject at hand before she made confessions she would regret. “My turn to open my present.”

“As you wish,” he said with a laugh and a slight bow, tucking the book into the back of his belt. She swallowed her disappointment when no ‘My Lady’ proceeded his remarks.

Holding her breath, Marinette slid a finger under the tape that held the parcel shut at one end, carefully peeling it up and extracting the box from inside. It was red, with gold detailing and a little gold clasp. She recognized it instantly.

“No,” she said, looking at him. Chat shifted uncomfortably.

“You haven’t even opened it yet.”

“This is a freaking Cartier box! This is _way_ too expensive!”

“Literal model,” Chat reminded her. “What’s the point in having a lucrative job if I can’t blow money on the best partner ever.”

She eyed him suspiciously as she lifted the lid, gasping at the jewellery inside. A white gold necklace glinted up at her, with two charms attached. They matched perfectly. A little cat silhouette and a solid ruby ladybug with crystals for spots adorned the simple chain. _No wait, those are probably diamonds._

Given Marinette’s knowledge of jewellery, this necklace was probably the most expensive thing she owned and the thrifty side of her wanted to chew Chat out for spending so much on a gift, but the much more appreciative fashion side won over as she toyed with the charms.

“It’s beautiful.” She whispered, looking up at him.

Chat was watching her, the soft snow sparsely sprinkled through his hair, eyes bright and glittering in the night. The necklace may have been precious, but something far more valuable was standing right there in front of her. How had she ever almost let him get away?

“It’s only fitting, My Lady.” There it was.

Marinette stared at him for a moment, lips parted, before she closed the divide between them, wrapping her arms around his neck and gazing up at him. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Chat looked down at her, a teasing smile playing at his lips.

“For being horrid to you. It’s my own fault I found out, and I shouldn’t have held that against you, especially since….” Her voice trailed off as she once more lost herself in his eyes.

“Since?” He prompted, voice barely making any sound. Now or never.

“Since I love you, Adrien.”

He kissed her, and for the first time Marinette was conscious that the boy she was kissing was, in fact, Adrien Agreste and she didn’t mind in the slightest. She’d been in love with him longer than she had Chat Noir, after all, but in the end they were the same person. So she’d loved him all along. She loved him as Chat, she loved him as Adrien, and in the end that was all that mattered. Was it so selfish of her to just want to love him and pretend that nothing else existed for as long as possible?

When something hot and wet dripped onto her cheek, Marinette pulled back slightly, only to see Chat crying. She froze.

“Everything okay, minou?”

“It’s perfect,” he whispered, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. “Does this mean everything can go back to the way it was?”

“Yes,” Marinette said, reaching up to cup his face in her hands. “I’m sorry I haven’t revealed myself yet but-”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chat interrupted. “Whenever you’re ready, I am. But I’m not going to push you into it. I’m just happy to be here with you tonight.”

She kissed him again, so soft and tender and putting all her unspoken love into it. Everything she couldn’t say she pressed against his lips, everything she couldn’t do she used to caress him. All the while she loved him.

“I know you said not to,” Chat said when they finally broke apart, “but I couldn’t stop loving you. Even after everything. Is that okay?”

“I don’t think I ever really wanted you to stop,” Marinette admitted. “I was just so confused and lost and I should have stayed with you instead of running away.”

“I don’t care if you ran away, what matters is that you came back and I was still here waiting for you. And you love me.” He grabbed both her hands in his, staring deep into her eyes.

“I do, I really do,” she let out a small laugh, rubbing her nose against his. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”

“You love me.” A dreamy smile came over his face. “And I love you. And I’m in heaven.”

“Spending time away from you only made me realize that the best part of me was always you,” Marinette confessed. “And I’ll reveal myself to you soon. That’s a promise.”

“I think I can safely say this is the best Christmas present I’ve ever received,” he leaned in to kiss her once more, and Marinette couldn’t help but agree.

* * *

Adrien awoke Christmas morning with a lovesick smile and butterflies in his stomach. He’d fallen asleep the night before after looking through the scrapbook Ladybug had given him, a mantra repeating itself in his head.

 _She loves me. She loves_ me. She _loves me. Adrien Agreste. Chat Noir. She knows all of me and she loves it._

 _“_ Get up, loser! It’s Christmas!” Peter danced into the room, rightfully elated. It had been Adrien’s first priority upon returning home the night prior to inform Peter of his change in relationship status.

“Merry Christmas, Peter.” Adrien tumbled out of bed, grin unwavering as he fixed his hair and stood up.

Peter thrust a gift in his direction. “Here’s your present, I’d recommend you open it up here. Suluu added something when she wrapped it from her, but I have no idea what it is, so proceed with caution.”

“Thanks for the disclaimer,” Adrien laughed, accepting the neatly wrapped present. Tearing away the wrapping paper, Adrien lifted out a backpack.

“Thank…you?” Adrien said slowly, turning it over in his hands. It was made of an odd material, close to what Peter’s suit looked like.

“That is the most secure backpack in the world,” Peter said. “It’s bulletproof, it can turn into a briefcase, suitcase, purse, whatever, and it’s protected by facial recognition software and voice activation. Only you are able to open that bag, meaning you can put superhero related stuff in there, whatever. There’s a computer screen on the inside, you can change the colour or whatever the hell you model types like to do. It’s Stark tech, designed entirely by me, and I think Suluu put her thing in there.”

“That’s really cool, actually.” Adrien looked at the bag. “So how do I open it?”

“Ask it to open.”

“Uh,” Adrien cleared his throat, feeling very stupid about talking to an inanimate object. “Open backpack?”

The top flipped open, the interior of the backpack lighting up so he could see inside it. It was, to use American slang, ‘sick’.

Adrien reached in, pulling out the other wrapped parcel from the interior.

“That would be Suluu’s gift,” Peter said in a helpful tone that suggested he wasn’t going to be helpful in the slightest.

“Should I be, like, worried?”

“I would not allow Suluu to give you a bomb or handgun for Christmas.”

“Oh, but a sniper rifle, those are fair game?”

“Maybe I should’ve gotten you some observational skills. Does that look big enough to be a sniper to you?”

Adrien shot him an exasperated look as he carefully opened the wrapping and let out an accompanying exasperated groan once he’d extracted the object.

“A cat ear headband? Really, Suluu?” He said, glaring at Peter’s pockets.

Peter frowned, confused, before following his gaze. “Oh, she’s back in my room, still asleep, unless you think my pyjamas are to pay for this transgression. When she wakes up, I’ll be sure to tell her you were proper offended. She’ll be thrilled.”

“I’m not a catboy!”

“I’m not the one you have to convince,” Peter said with a Cheshire Cat grin. “Suluu ain’t got a lot, but the one thing she does have is the motherfucking audacity.”

“You have that right,” Adrien grumbled. “Let’s go downstairs.”

Christmas passed in a breeze of lights and snow and ripped paper. Patrols were reinstated and Adrien was able to see his Lady again outside of akuma fighting. In fact, life was righted on its axis for Adrien. Routine, as binding as it was, offered a sense of normality for him.

Peter accompanied him to all of his photo shoots, showing his unwavering and support for Adrien’s busy schedule. Ladybug even dropped by his room one night to bring him pastries. She’d smelled just like the bread she’d brought, most curiously, and Adrien had spent the night dreaming of the two of them baking.

They were into the new year by the time things got interesting again.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Adrien asked Peter when he walked into Peter’s room, only to find him hanging upside down from the ceiling in full suit, watching Suluu as she worked her way through a massive book detailing the French Constitution of 1958.

“My thoughts are worth far more than that,” Peter said distractedly, eyes never leaving a point just beyond the tip of Suluu’s tiny wings.

“How long have you been hanging upside down like that?”

“I’m watching a nature documentary. It’s very good quality, surround sound and everything. I have never been more at peace than I am now.”

“What is Suluu doing?”

“Studying to apply to law school.” For Christmas, Adrien knew that Peter had gifted Suluu with what was easily the weirdest gift Adrien had ever heard of. He hadn’t even known it was possible. Nonetheless, Peter had started crafting a fake family history for Suluu at some point, weaving her into the world bit by bit, and for Christmas he had given her a birth certificate. A real birth certificate, naming Suluu as Suluu Khepri, born unto Ira and Rahu Khepri twenty years ago, both parents now tragically deceased. Adrien had never seen a kwami more delighted. She’d cried happy tears for hours, then begun looking into schooling opportunities.

It made Adrien feel all the more grateful to be human, to be alive. He had someone else’s dream life, the one they dreamed of having, and he couldn’t let it go to waste. Not that wasting it was something he was doing at the moment. In fact, since Ladybug’s love confession, he’d been living life to the absolute fullest with reckless abandon.

“Hey Su.” He cast the quick greeting in her direction.

“Marchons! Marchons! Qu’un sang impur abreuve nos sillons!” Suluu chanted and it took Adrien a solid moment to realize she was quoting the national anthem. Like miraculous user, like kwami, Adrien could never tell where their minds were at.

“There’s a tune that goes along with that, you know. It’s not just a chant about watering furrows with impure blood,” he informed her.

“It’s a war song, I can sing it however I want,” Suluu declared, still not raising her eyes from the book that was bigger than her tiny kwami body. “Plus, nowhere in here does it say I have to sing La Marseillaise _correctly,_ it just says, quote, ‘the national anthem is-’”

“Believe it or not, but I’m actually rather familiar with your constitutional rights, thank you. It’s generally a good thing to be aware of if I’m a superhero.”

“If anyone ever takes Chat Noir to court, I’d be more than happy to represent you.”

“You’re not certified.”

“I never said I’d represent you _well_.” She glanced up from her book, beak turning upwards into a smile. “I just said I’d be happy to.”

“Great, well, I’ll keep that in mind.” Suluu was so talkative and willing to engage, the complete opposite of Plagg who usually only spoke to Adrien to complain. It was easy to forget that Suluu was a little sun god who was millions of years old and not, in fact, a teenager like himself just trapped in a bird body. He had a tendency to ignore it whenever she was in human form, but now, in her kwami form, she served him a friendly (and mildly unsettling) reminder.

“Interesting,” Peter said aloud. “Very interesting indeed.”

“You’re not actually watching nature videos, are you?” Adrien guessed.

“Correct, and quite frankly I’m surprised you bought that in the first place,” Peter responded. “I’m on a stakeout.”

“A stakeout?”

“Yes, and I think it’s time.” Peter flipped right side up, sending his mask away to reveal his flushed face to Adrien. “Call your lady, it’s about time I told you all the truth.”

“ _About the Papillon?_ ” Ladybug said in Adrien’s ear as he ran across Paris’s rooftops.

“I don’t know,” Adrien confessed, dodging a pigeon. “He said he was going to tell the truth, and I can’t think of anything else he would need to tell us.”

“ _His identity, maybe,_ ” Ladybug mused.

“Good guess, Buginette, but I already know that.”

“ _Right. Then I guess it must be the Papillon’s identity._ ”

“Well, he went to go talk to Master Fu to clear something up, probably to tell him that he was about to tell _us_ so we’ve probably got a few minutes at least.”

“ _He must think the Papillon is planning something. Why else would he tell us this out of the blue? Maybe_ he’s figured out that the Papillon is planning an attack on Paris.” Her voice was no longer just through his staff as the duo landed on the same rooftop. Ladybug snapped her yoyo shut, brow drawn.

“What if,” she braved, “what if the Papillon discovered his identity?”

“Spiderman is way too careful for that kind of thing. If he so much as suspected that the Papillon knew his identity, we would’ve been taking him down already. I mean, Spidey’s whole logic is centred around telling us things at precisely the right moment, right? Maybe this is just the right moment.”

“I guess it is ideal since we’re good now, and Christmas akumatizations are over, so now the ball is in our court. That’s a smart theory, chaton.”

“Smart enough to earn me a kiss?” Adrien prompted, leaning forward.

“I guess,” she rolled her eyes in playful annoyance before melting into his arms. Of course, they didn’t have long to enjoy each other’s presence before they were rudely interrupted.

“Can you two not keep your hands to yourselves whenever you’re together? Is that what this is?” Spiderman said as he landed. “Because I am not trying to be an active part of this relationship. I have lived in blissful ignorance of your sex lives and I am not trying to break that trend now!”

“We were just kissing,” Adrien said, glaring at his friend.

“Okay, kissing, whatever. Look, I have reason to believe that the Papillon is going to try and lure Ladybug and Chat Noir into a trap sometime soon, mainly because I hacked into his house’s security system and have been keeping tabs on him, but the main point is the trap. He’s planning on taking two hostages and threatening their lives until Ladybug and Chat Noir give up their miraculous. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for the Papillon, the two target hostages are safe and sound.”

“Who are they?” Ladybug narrowed her eyes and began to pace, obviously stressed out.

“Adrien Agreste and Peter Parker.” Adrien’s head snapped up at his words, but Spiderman seemed unfazed. “However, as you can see, Adrien is right here with us, and Peter Parker has been safely relocated elsewhere. Now comes time to get to the root of this.”

Spiderman took a deep breath, turning away from the both of them and looking out at the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Adrien’s own hot breath fogged in the air.

“It’s time I told you the identity of the Papillon,” Spiderman said finally. Adrien was suddenly nervous. Why was he nervous? He was going to find out who the bad guy was, that was a good thing, was it not? He needed to know before they could stop him, obviously.

“Okay,” Ladybug said. “Let’s hear it.”

But Spiderman wasn’t looking at Ladybug. He was staring straight at Adrien.

“Chat, _Adrien_ , I want you to know that I tried everything.” Spiderman came closer to Adrien, stopping only a foot away. “I want you to know that I tried getting through to him, but I just couldn’t. I told him to think of you, I told him this wasn’t the way to go, but he didn’t listen, and I’m so so sorry.”

Adrien could barely focus on Spiderman’s words. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears as his breath became erratic. Spidey was poking at the sleeping dragon of a truth Adrien ignored, one he didn’t want to admit to himself. But it made sense, didn’t it? It always made sense in the end, as much as he didn’t want it to.

“I tried so hard to save him. And I’ll keep trying. But I want you to know that it was never supposed to be him. All I ever wanted was to protect you, even from the truth. But now I have to protect you in a different way. If you don’t recognize it now, if you try to block this truth out, it’ll put us all in danger.”

“No,” Adrien said firmly, tears beginning to blur the corners of his vision. “You’re wrong. You’re lying!” He yelled. He was angry because he knew Spidey was right. Angry at himself for never realizing.

Then Spiderman did the one thing Adrien had never expected him to do, at least not in front of Ladybug.

Spiderman removed his mask.

He heard Ladybug’s small gasp beside him, but he didn’t so much as spare her a glance because Peter’s eyes were full of tears too. Peter was staring at him like he could feel Adrien’s anguish, and maybe he could.

“The day I went to Alya’s…,” Peter said slowly. “That’s when I found out. And I wish I was lying, Adrien. I really, really do.”

“Gabriel Agreste,” Ladybug said, her tone one of insidiously dawning comprehension. “Gabriel Agreste is the Papillon. Your dad,” she turned to Adrien, “is the Papillon.”

He couldn’t move, couldn’t nod, anything. Adrien was frozen.

And once again he was struck by how funny it all was. The irony of it, really. The way his world took only the slightest of pushes to go spinning out of orbit once more. Just when he thought he’d got it all figured out, once again that precious stability had evaded his grasp once again. And Adrien was mad.

“God…” he let out a strangled sound of anger. “Goddamn it! Goddamn him!” He whirled on the spot, seething and crying at the same time. Why did it have to be him. Why was it always him? Was it so selfish of him to just wish for once that life would pick on someone else?

“I wish that was everything,” Peter said softly. Adrien felt Ladybug slip a reassuring hand into his, rubbing circles on the back of his hand.

“There’s more?” Adrien was surprised his voice didn’t crack from how hoarse it had gotten.

“Your mother isn’t dead.”

Forget a slight push off of orbit, Adrien felt like a meteor had smashed his world to smithereens. Flashes of the funeral, when they’d buried an empty casket, blinked through his mind. How much unnecessary pain had he endured?

“She’s not dead, but your dad has her kept in a sort of suspended life tank in the hopes that when he gets both miraculous, he can revive her. I’ll tell you right now, he can’t.” Peter, ashamed, didn’t seem to be able to look Adrien in the eye. “I’ve studied the miraculous these past few weeks, I’ve seen her condition, there’s nothing we can do. All I could do was get the peacock miraculous away from Nathalie before she could wind up the same way.”

Nathalie, Mayura, of course. How had Adrien been so blind? She’d had many of the same symptoms as a his mother before her death. From the peacock miraculous, that leaked unrestrained magic into her. The one that Peter had fixed.

“There’s no way to-” he began, but Peter silenced him with a sad shake of his head.

“Part of me being Helios is that I can-” he looked like he was going to be sick “-sense death, in a way. Phoenixes are associated with death, and my kwami could feel how weak her life force was, and I could feel it in Nathalie too.”

“You’ve seen her?” Ladybug said. She was crying too.

“I didn’t know what I would find, otherwise I never would have gone looking. Adrien, I can never apologize enough. You don’t deserve this.”

His mom was alive, yet beyond saving. His dad and Nathalie were evil. Why was life so determined to be cruel to him? He’d wanted to live a poetic life, in the end, but not this sort. Not one that left him confused and questioning and alone, always so alone.

Adrien had spent his whole life alone while surrounded by people. The ones he thought he could trust were no more than smoke and mirrors that dissipated and broke, only to leave him clutching to the shattered remnants of the lies they’d told him. He’d always wanted to be taken out of the dark he was left in, but now the light of the truth was blinding and he had nowhere he could hide. 

He did the only thing he still knew how to do. He ran.

Adrien ran and ran, all the way home, barrelled into his room and grabbed as many things as he could, stuffing them all into the backpack that Peter had given him before he took off running once more.

He couldn’t put enough distance between him and that godforsaken house with its godforsaken occupants. A small part of his mind wondered if Ladybug and Spidey were looking for him. Another part of him didn’t care, and wanted to get as far away as possible.

Adrien barely registered reaching the airport. He barely registered purchasing a ticket and boarding a plane. He felt nothing but a lost and confused numbness, and he didn’t even know where he was going.

The only important thing was that it wasn’t where he was right now. He’d live a life surrounded by people yet still alone for the rest of his life and be content with it, so long as he left behind the life where he was surrounded by evil yet still good. Everyone was a little bit evil, he’d realized this long ago, yet he hadn’t been able to recognize real evil when it was right in front of him. His own father, attempting to ravage the city on a weekly basis out of the anger of his heart and Adrien, never so much as realizing. Maybe he’d make it far enough to live in the dark once more. Maybe ignorance _was_ bliss.

When he got off the plane, Adrien made his way to the only other place he knew. Somehow he knew the way, and night had fallen by the time he reached his destination.

A tired hand knocked on the door as his tears started anew. He was alone, he was scared, and he had nowhere else to go. Thank god the door opened.

“Adrien?” May asked. “What are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points to anyone who recognized that Marinette was singing Defying Gravity from the Wicked musical by the singular line I dropped in here. 
> 
> Anyways things are getting funky!! A lot happens in not only this chapter but the next few as well, as we have entered ~the finale~ So buckle your seatbelts, baddies 
> 
> And finally, happy holidays to you all :)


	21. Face-à-face Avec la Mort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2/2 of the moment you’ve all been waiting for and then A LOT more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert incredibly witty joke about how I haven’t posted since last year* 
> 
> This chapter has a lot of fight scenes and I SUCK at fight scenes that don’t include a sword so apologies in advance. Also I made an instagram account finally, so feel free to direct any and all hate to @geniethehobbylobbyist or if you just want to talk my DM’s are open, if you haven’t noticed I love talking to people in the comments section :) I think it has something to do with my inherent need for attention
> 
> Also I just changed the name of this fic to The Miraculous Spiderman Series because I JUST realized someone else has a fic called Miraculous Spiderman my bad

May led Adrien into the apartment, and Adrien could feel her taking in his wrecked appearance. He felt more drained than he’d ever felt in a living memory, like the weight of the world had been plopped on his shoulders with no warning and he was now struggling to lift it.

“I’ll make you some tea.” She hurried into the kitchen, leaving him on the couch. Adrien was glad how she didn’t start asking him questions right off the bat or fussing over him, instead allowing him to sit for a moment and get his bearings. It was late, and the view out the apartment window was dark and had been for quite some time now. Really, all things considered, it was a miracle he hadn’t been mugged on his way there.

“Do you have any other bags?” May returned a few minutes later with the tea she handed him, nodding towards his backpack. Adrien shook his head as she sat down beside him, wrapping an arm across his shoulders. He leaned into her.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” he whispered. The confession felt stupid. There were definitely other places he could’ve gone, but he’d just wanted to run. Somehow, inadvertently, he’d let Ladybug down. Adrien couldn’t control who his father was, or what his father did, but he’d been tainted by association. Now he could see why Master Fu hadn’t trusted him. The son of their greatest enemy.

Peter had run too, when he’d found out, though his desire to protect Adrien had prevented him from going far. He’d always wanted to tell Adrien the truth, Adrien could see now. But he’d kept it to himself until the last possible moment and until he had no choice but to tell Adrien and break his heart. Adrien could forgive him for keeping it from him. He’d understood why he’d done it. Adrien would’ve done the same, had he been in Peter’s shoes.

“My father,” Adrien began, ever so slowly. “Is the Papillon who’s been terrorizing Paris. And I don’t know what to do.”

May watched him, brow drawn and eyes worried. “I’m sorry.” It was all she could’ve said. How did one react to that sort of admission? It definitely wasn’t something someone could offer their help with, nor something they could give advice for. Gabriel Agreste being the Papillon was a statement of fact, and with that, May’s condolences were all she could offer.

“And it turns out my mother isn’t dead, he’s just keeping her hidden away because he thinks he can heal her, but Peter says he can’t and it’s all just too much for me. She’s going to die _again._ We already buried her empty casket. They never said she was dead, it was just she’d been sick for one day and then she went missing. To me, missing was always synonymous with dead. But now, to find out my dad’s been keeping her alive in the hopes that, by attacking citizens, he can bring her back? I always knew my dad wasn’t the best, but I didn’t think he was _evil_.”

“Is he evil?” May asked. “Or is he just severely misguided and morally corrupt? To say that he’s evil suggests that he is beyond redemption. One can commit evil acts without evil intent.”

“I don’t know. I don’t even know if he’s forgivable.”

“Then it’s a good thing forgiveness pays no mind to whether one is forgivable or not.” She gave him a small smile. “I know Peter intends to do what he can to save him, and I cannot picture him doing anything else. He’ll do his best to bring your father back to the light, Adrien.”

“But what if he can’t?” Adrien felt hollow to admit it, to even fathom that his own father was beyond help, despite the fact it was a very real possibility. “What if this is all he’ll ever be? I don’t know him anymore. And to think he told me that Tony Stark was not a man fit of idolization.” His hand clenched instinctively and Adrien had to focus on relaxing it. “He’s tried to kill me. Multiple times. It was all his fault all along. He’s already beyond saving in my eyes.”

“I want to say I’m sorry, but I don’t think sorry is enough.” May captured his gaze, eyes swimming with tears. “You never deserved this, Adrien. But unfortunately life doesn’t seem to care about whether one deserves things or not when it deals you your hand. All I can say is to be strong.”

“Quite honestly, I’m not sure how much strength I have left.”

“You have enough to get through this.”

“How can you be so sure?” Adrien raised his teacup to his lips with trembling hands, taking a delicate sip.

“You remind me of someone I once knew.” She said earnestly. “You’re exceptional, Adrien. Don’t forget it.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, before May braved conversation again. “Are you going to tell him, when you face him?”

“What?” Adrien sat up straight to look at her properly.

“I can recognize the signs of people living a double life now easily, I know you’re Chat Noir, given that Peter is such good friends with you. And I assume you’ll have to return to Paris at some point.”

“You Parkers are just really good at figuring things out,” Adrien shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “But I don’t know if I _can_ face him. It’s unfair of me to expect Ladybug and Spiderman to fight him themselves but that’s my _dad_. And as much as I _hate_ him right now….”

“I understand. No one ever wants to fight the ones they loved and admired.”

He bowed his head, ruminating silently. What were his next steps? He’d come all the way to New York, far out of reach of Ladybug and Spiderman, but Peter would find him eventually. He was not so deluded as to think he could hide forever.

“I can’t do it,” he decided, reaching for his ring. “I can’t fight my dad. I can’t _be_ Chat Noir.” He slipped it off his finger. “It’s over.” He didn’t give May a chance to respond.

Turning towards the open window, Adrien threw the ring. There was too much riding on his shoulders, too much expectation for him to live up to. He simply couldn’t do it. He couldn’t be trusted either, to do the right thing and keep a handle on his emotions when he faced his father and mother. The world expected far too much of him; a child.

A column of fire erupted in front of the window just as Adrien’s ring was about to sail out and it disappeared into the heart of the flame. May leapt to her feet, looking wildly around in search of a fire extinguisher or something, but she needn’t have bothered.

“You dropped something.” Helios, toting Ladybug, stepped into the room, trailing ash on the carpet and held up his hand that had caught Adrien’s ring.

“You came,” Adrien whispered as Peter dropped his disguise, his eyes catching Ladybug’s.

“I’d follow you anywhere, you stupid cat,” Ladybug said, running towards Adrien and grabbing him in a tight hug. “And don’t you dare quit being Chat Noir on me just because your dad sucks.” She shoved his ring back onto his finger, holding it up so he could see it. “This belongs to you and you only. Stop trying to get rid of it.”

“My Lady, you know anyone can wear the suit.”

“Only you can wear it well.” She looked up at him, lips tilting upwards into that small smile that Adrien loved. 

“What took you so long if you can just teleport?” May demanded of Peter, who held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Ladybug and I had some affairs to get in order. Mainly teaching her basic survival techniques. You know, what to do if you get stabbed, dismembered, all the necessities.”

“Anything one might need to know walking into battle,” Ladybug said, rolling her eyes. “No one’s getting stabbed today, though.”

“Tomorrow, when we actually return to Paris, that’s a different story altogether,” Peter said with a glint in his eye. “However, now is time.”

He directed this last comment at Ladybug, looking at her with a sort of unwavering confidence, like he was so sure of what he was doing. It was a look Adrien knew he would never master no matter how hard he tried. Ladybug’s eyes widened before her expression hardened into determination and she gave him a crisp nod.

“Chat, Adrien, minou,” Ladybug said, stepping back from him. “Peter’s right. It’s time for me to reveal myself on my own terms, before anything happens to either of us.”

Adrien gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile, taking both her hands in his, attempting to ignore the erratic speeding up of his heart. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this day, My Lady. If you’re ready, I am.”

“I’m sorry in advance,” she said. “I know today has been a day of big reveals for you and I don’t want to add to it, but I’ve already waited far too long for…selfish reasons. But I can’t hide any longer. I don’t _want_ to.”

“Those reveals were bad ones. Finding out who you are could never be a bad experience,” Adrien said, and he meant it. No matter who his Lady turned out to be, he loved her. He loved her in a way that transcended who she was on the outside and instead focused on the soul.

“One more kiss,” she said, pulling him close and pressing the softest of kisses to his lips before stepping back away, still holding his hands. “For good luck.”

“Anything for you.”

And with that, Ladybug closed her eyes and whispered those words Adrien had always longed to see her utter.

“Detransform me.”

_Detransform me._

A swirl of pink sparkles encircled her, and Adrien watched as the hands he held were no longer covered in red material, instead revealing a pair of soft, warm ones, ones he’d dreamed about. And as he slowly looked up, he realized just how stupid he’d been. Stupid in the best way possible.

Those blue eyes, the ones that had forever woven their way in and out of his dreams, those two ponytails, the ones he’d always thought of as his Lady’s signature hairstyle. Those sparse freckles dotted across the bridge of her nose he’d always wanted to count. They all belonged to Marinette.

Because it was Marinette who was looking at him, holding her breath as she waited for him to finish staring. It was Marinette who he’d fallen in love with and stayed in love with for all that time. It was Marinette who he could never love any less because Ladybug and Marinette were one and he _loved her._

“Adrien?” She said softly, doing her best to bring him back to the present. Adrien couldn’t think of anything he could say, that could adequately describe just how much he loved her, so he settled for kissing her instead.

“I love you,” he said when they finally broke apart. “And I told you so.”

Marinette laughed, a giddy yet relieved sound as Adrien realized just how much she’d been worried about this moment. “Told me what?”

“I told you I’d love you no matter who you turned out to be.”

“A confession, chaton,” she thumbed his jawline thoughtfully. “All that time, when I was saying there was another guy…that guy was you.”

Adrien’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“I’ve been in love with Adrien Agreste ever since he gave me his umbrella,” Marinette said. “And you’ve been in love with Ladybug longer. Ironic, isn’t it?”

He groaned. “All those years wasted just because my civilian self was too gorgeous for his own good? Curse my good genes.” Adrien wasn’t mad, per say, just annoyed at himself for being so _blind._ So _stupid._

“Don’t get cocky, now.” Marinette rolled her eyes at him, an expression Adrien wasn’t used to her giving him in her civilian clothes.

“You’re telling me that when we broke up, I literally went to your house and lamented to you about how I broke up with you?” Adrien suddenly remembered, face flushing with embarrassment the more he thought about it.

“I know you didn’t mean it to be a guilt trip, but it totally was.”

“It helped bring you around in the end, that’s all that matters,” Adrien grinned.

“Not to break up this cozy little reveal,” Peter interrupted. Adrien had completely forgot him and May were standing there. “But we should really go to sleep, given that tomorrow we have to go fight a motherfucker.”

“Peter Benjamin Parker!” May said sharply.

“Are you trying to tell me that Gabriel Agreste _didn’t_ have sexy time with Adrien’s mom? Because the proof is right here,” Peter cackled gleefully, bounding forwards to pinch Adrien’s cheeks. “But our beds await.”

“Wait a minute!” Adrien said. “You knew right from the beginning that I was Chat Noir and Marinette was Ladybug and _now_ you’re just going to blow right past it?”

“Oh Adrien.” Peter placed a hand on his shoulder. “I would _never_ blow right past it. Trust me, I am going to be laughing at how stupid you two are for the rest of my life. You cannot make up this kind of comedy.” He shot a wink at Marinette before parading off to his bedroom, humming a tune that sounded suspiciously like ‘Zip-a-Dee-Do-Da’, leaving Adrien to stare after him, mouth hanging open in dumbfounded shock.

Adrien had packed extra clothes, given that he didn’t know how long he’d be staying in New York, so Marinette dressed in the pyjamas Peter had bought Adrien for his birthday once upon a time. She looked so cute, Adrien made sure to let her know four or five hundred times.

She called him annoying, rolling her eyes at his flirtatious statements, but her blush and unwavering smile deterred him from taking her seriously or doing something so dire as shutting up.

“You two disgusting lovebirds get to share a bunk,” Peter said when they both returned from brushing their teeth (May had an assortment of spare toothbrushes reserved for guests). “I’m not sleeping on the floor if I’ve got to be in tip-top shape tomorrow.”

“No complaints on my part,” Adrien said, climbing up to the top bunk and helping Marinette up.

They both settled down facing each other, and Adrien took the opportunity to study her facial features in the dark now that she was unmasked. It was an entirely new yet familiar scenario, and his gazing did not go unnoticed by the face’s owner.

“You’re staring,” Marinette whispered.

“I’m so glad it was you,” Adrien confessed.

“Because I’m pretty?”

“Because you’re smart, talented, passionate, determined, everything good a person can be.” He decided right then he very much liked making Marinette blush, especially since that blush wasn’t accompanied by her usual stammering, but rather with the assertive charm he’d always associated Ladybug. Ladybug’s mask often hid any redness in her cheeks, but Marinette’s face laid the truth bare. Best of both worlds.

“Shut up,” she muttered.

“Yeah, Adrien,” Peter’s voice floated up from down below. “Shut up! I’m trying to sleep with super-enhanced hearing, and you two are _not_ making it easy by saying all those gushy things to one another. You know, Felix is actually a far better bunk mate than you two. And Felix tried to strangle me every morning as part of his routine since I was in between him and his coffee.”

“Sorry, Your Highness,” Adrien rolled his eyes, shooting Marinette a look. “We’ll be quiet now.”

“You better,” Peter grumbled. “Otherwise forget the Papillon, _I’ll_ make your life hell.”

It was a true testament to Peter’s abilities that Adrien didn’t utter a single word for the rest of the night.

* * *

Peter padded into the kitchen in the early hours of the morning, immediately moving to make himself a cup of coffee. Suluu followed him, correctly assuming he’d make her cinnamon hot chocolate while he was at it.

“You’re up early,” May remarked, entering the kitchen. “Both of you are.”

“It’s practically noon in France right now,” Peter said, resting against the counter. “I’m surprised Marinette and Adrien are still asleep.”

He actually wasn’t surprised. The two of them were tired out from the previous day’s events, plus they were cuddled up together in a way that made his tooth ache from the sweetness of it all.

“Try and be safe, both of you,” May said to Peter and Suluu. “Suluu, I know you’re a god, but I can’t help but feel that you’re part of the family too.”

“I am,” Suluu winked before turning into her human form, this time her hair was perfectly curled, just to prove that she wasn’t affected by bed head like the rest of them. Stupid little bird sun god.

May just stared and Peter remembered she’d never seen Suluu as a human before and was obviously going through the same brain melting that all of them had once endured.

“So I may have bent a few laws and had Suluu registered as a French citizen for Christmas,” Peter said. “And once the Papillon is defeated, I promised her she could be human full time, just like she dreams, and if she so wants to, I guess that means she can be a part of the family too.”

Suluu gave a hesitant smile to May, her full lips parting just slightly to reveal a few of her pearly white teeth. May was still staring, her eyes slowly filling with tears that Peter didn’t know the reasoning behind.

Ever so slowly, like she was afraid of her, May crept closer to Suluu, carefully reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. This was where Peter expected Suluu to make a sassy comment about human sentiment, but surprisingly Suluu seemed entirely uncertain of what to do. She just stared at May with the same kind of wonder as May wrapped her up in a hug.

“Welcome to the family,” he heard May whisper and then the dam seemed to break on both of them, and they were both crying.

“What’s going on?” Marinette stepped into the kitchen, Adrien close in tow. They were holding hands, Peter noted.

“Just a bit of an emotional moment between the two.” He whispered.

“Who is that?” Marinette peered at Suluu.

Suluu wiped her eyes, releasing May and turning her attention to Marinette. “Suluu Khepri. Pleasure to meet you.”

Peter, with no small amount of pride, watched Marinette’s cheeks colour as she looked up at Suluu. Suluu was the universally attractive sort, unchecked by fickle things such as sexuality.

“Suluu is Peter’s kwami,” Adrien explained in a low voice. “She’s taken a liking to being human.”

“Suluu?” Marinette said incredulously. “You can do that?”

“Naturally,” she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Do you blame me? I mean, look how hot I am. Now eat up, we’ve got a butterfly man to wipe the fucking pavement with.”

Breakfast was a slightly rushed affair, and Peter made a quick detour to the corner store to get a bag of cinnamon candy.

“Here’s the plan,” he said. “We’ve got the element of surprise on our side. No doubt Nathalie and Gabriel are going crazy now that they’ve realized Adrien is missing, so we can easily catch them off guard. Also their little kidnapping heist thing is off.”

“About that,” Suluu said, sprinkling straight turmeric on her toast to Peter’s sheer disgust. “Have any of you checked the news yet today?”

“No?” Peter gave her a look, raising an eyebrow slowly. Suluu mirrored him, then tilted her head slightly. He wasn’t going to like it. “Karen, mask.”

The second his Spiderman mask covered his face, Peter pulled up the latest news feeds. The top headlines blared up at him, and he selected a video featuring a local reporter, Nadja.

“All of Paris is holding their breath after the Papillon released a video twenty minutes ago of his hostages, supermodel Adrien Agreste and American exchange student Peter Parker. So far there has been no statement from Gabriel Agreste on the matter, nor any sign of Paris’s usual superheroes who have-”

Peter sent it away and instead found a clip of the Papillon’s video.

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, Spiderman,” the Papillon said, his masked face filling all of Peter’s vision, “I gave you a chance to give me your miraculous, and you all refused. So now it’s time to face the consequences. I’ve captured Adrien Agreste and Peter Parker and if you refuse again….” He grinned slowly, showing a carefully doctored clip of an apparently beat-up Adrien and Peter tied by their hands to his bridge. It was some impressive editing, but Peter knew he could do better. Or rather, he knew someone who could.

He sent his mask away, not caring to finish the threatening video. “Good news,” he said to a bewildered looking breakfast party. “The Papillon didn’t manage to capture Adrien and me, obviously, but he’s claiming to have. He’s got some nicely edited video as proof. Also good news, we can make a video of our own before we head back to Paris.”

“How are we gonna do that?” Adrien asked, downing a glass of orange juice. “We don’t really have the luxury of time.”

“I’ve got a plan,” Peter said with a slow smile. “I’ve always got a plan.”

A few minutes later, the gang was knocking on Ned’s front door.

“I got your text,” Ned said, throwing the door open. “I set up the green screen and we’re ready to go.”

“Thanks man.” Peter did his usual handshake with Ned, not bothering to go through the effort of introductions. “This might get a little weird, but don’t worry about it.”

“Weird is fine. Hey Adrien!” Ned and Adrien had met before when Adrien had visited New York for the first time. Adrien waved, giving him a camera-ready smile.

“Suluu,” Peter said, pulling her back as the others went to get set up. “Would you be able to mirror me as Helios?”

“I mean, you’re not nearly as attractive as me, but yeah.” She waved a hand up her body and her image rippled, like a mirage before his eyes, changing into a perfect copy of Helios.

“So what are we doing here, Peter?” Marinette asked. “Are we filming a response to the Papillon’s video?”

“Something like that,” Peter said. “We’re going to show him Ladybug, Chat Noir, Spiderman, Helios, Adrien Agreste, and Peter Parker all in one video. Fight fire with fire.”

“Fight fire with fire and everyone gets burned,” Marinette sighed.

“Good thing I’m fireproof,” Peter said, giving her a dazzling smile.

It only took Ned fifteen minutes to edit their video appropriately before Peter was projecting it onto Parisian television, disrupting whatever broadcasts they had going on.

“Peter Parker and Adrien Agreste are perfectly safe with us. Your video to instil fear in the hearts of Parisians will not work, and we will not be swayed. But your tyranny has come to an end, Papillon.” Ladybug’s voice floated off Ned’s computer screen as they crowded around to watch it.

“Today is the last time you’ll ever inflict pain upon our world,” Chat Noir on the screen said, eyes burning. “Because we’re coming for you.”

“And this time we’re not giving up until you give us _your_ miraculous,” Helios-Suluu said, swinging her rope.

“Welcome to judgement day, Papillon,” Adrien, who had been edited into the front row of the shot, held up a finger towards the camera. “See you soon.”

The video ended and Ned spun around in his chair. “That was badass.”

“I know, right?” Peter said, giving him a high-five. “I’ll let you know how it goes later. For now, we got a supervillain to take down.”

“Make sure you give him a good punch for me,” Ned said. “Best of luck, guys.”

“We’ll need all the luck we can get,” Adrien said, adjusting a stray lock of hair. “Also, not to be a killjoy, but how are we getting back to Paris?”

“Same way Marinette and I got here.” Peter flicked an arm in Suluu’s direction and she got the message, changing back into kwami form before transforming him into Helios. “You two suit up, I’m going to teleport us a little ways from Agreste mansion, then we’ll break in after I change back into Spiderman.”

Adrien and Marinette complied, transforming into the respective heroes. Peter motioned for them to stay back while he concentrated, picturing the precise spot he wanted them to be as he let out the phoenix song to the best of his abilities.

He barely heard it from how hard he was concentrating, flinging an arm up into the air as a column of fire erupted from it. Teleporting wasn’t a fun experience, based on his one other experience with it, and it felt like walking through a wall of flames after squirting jalapeño juice up your nostrils, but he sucked it up nonetheless, motioning for Ladybug and Chat Noir to grip onto him. Together they stepped through the portal.

They appeared just where he’d expected and he immediately collapsed, coughing as his transformation left him and his Spidey suit stretched over him.

“Are you okay?” Ladybug asked, worry creasing her mask.

“Not a fan,” Peter croaked, feeding Suluu a cinnamon candy before attaching the bag to his web fluid belt. “But who cares. We’ve got a bad guy to stop.”

He looked Chat in the eyes one last time, searching for any sign of hesitation. There was none. His features had hardened into solid resolve.

“Remember the plan and stick to it. No lucky charms, no cataclysms until I give the order,” Peter whispered as they snuck onto the property.

“Who made you boss?” Chat hissed, tail flicking.

“I’m least likely to get distracted by emotions,” Peter responded, creeping like a spider. “It’s just in my nature. Also try not to freeze when you see your mom.”

“I’ve got a plan for that,” Chat wouldn’t look at him or Ladybug as they reached the edge of the house. “You said she’s plugged in?”

“It’s being powered by something, yeah,” Peter frowned at him, doing his best to guess what Chat was thinking. But his face was just as much as a mask as the one that concealed his identity.

The trio carefully scaled the walls, slipping into Peter’s room. Peter immediately scowled.

“What the _hell_ did they do to my computers?” The computers at the desk looked like they’d been beaten, various keys were missing from the keyboard, the mouse crushed in obvious frustration. All three screens blinked the same message.

_Access denied. Hacking detected. Full system shutdown._

“Felix you genius,” Peter said, turning the mouse over in his hands, grateful for the first time ever that Mr. Stark had appointed that angsty Brit to be his coworker.

“Felix?” Ladybug said. “What did he have to do with this?”

“Felix is my manager. He most likely got the message that someone was trying to hack in, looked at the computer cameras, and determined it wasn’t me and locked down the system. He can be smart sometimes. I never even trained him to do that.”

“Moving on,” Chat prompted.

“One second,” Peter said, swallowing suddenly. “There’s something I still have to do.”

He pulled a folded paper out from where it had been tucked between a web fluid cartridge and his body, carefully placing it on the desk.

“What’s that?” Ladybug reached for it, but he slid it out of her reach.

“My last will and testament,” he said shortly. “Just in case.”

He felt their questioning gazes on him as he turned away, determined not to let them see his fear. Today was the all or nothing phase, and he would die if he must. Anything to let Adrien and Marinette live, anything to stop the Papillon. Today was not the day to hold back. Plus, something that would kill Mari or Adri was less likely to kill Peter outright. Still, he liked to err on the side of caution.

“Peter, I’m not going to let you die,” Chat said, grabbing his wrist. “I promise.”

“I won’t die,” Peter said. “I just like to be prepared, okay? Besides, I don’t fear it.” He cast one last look at the paper. “At least, not like I used to. At the end of the day, I’m just going to keep you two alive, no matter what. Also, I made a promise to Suluu. One I intend to keep, regardless of whether I survive.”

He couldn’t say what was really on his mind. The two of them together, reminded him of a sort of love he’d seen once upon a time. They reminded him of his parents.

All the more reason to keep them alive.

“Let’s go. I think the Papillon has had enough time to prepare, don’t you?”

* * *

Marinette’s heart was beating erratically in her chest as they slipped through the abandoned halls of the Agreste mansion, Peter leading them to M. Agreste’s study. The whole house was dark and empty. Evening was upon them, the brilliant sunset promising a clear night.

Spiderman propelled himself off the ground, sticking to the wall above the door to the study, pressing a careful finger to his general mouth area. Marinette leapt to one side of the door; Chat to the other, both carefully readying their respective yoyo and baton in preparation for a fight. But the study, when Spiderman pushed open the door, was empty.

“He’ll be below the building,” Spidey said, dropping to the ground nimbly and walking over to a large portrait of Adrien’s mother. “You all have to stand on this circle here, it’s an elevator.”

“What are we going to do when we get down there?” Marinette asked. “Should we engage right away or try to talk to him or…?”

“Chat, it’s your call.”

“If Nathalie is down there, I think it would be…wise to try and take her down first,” Chat said, like he was reciting from a book, one he hadn’t enjoyed. “Maybe then my father will see reason.”

“We’re going to try to avoid letting him know who you are, right?” Spiderman asked. “At least to begin with.”

“Of course,” Chat said, like it was obvious. “We’re wasting time, let’s go.” Spidey pressed something on the portrait, and before Marinette knew it they were sinking downwards into the ground, down further and further than she’d ever been before. Not even the water canals and sewer systems were this far down. It was a few moments before they were in a glass tube and she could get a good look out at the room they were entering.

It was dimly lit, with a long, narrow catwalk stretching from the elevator landing to a platform at the other end, of the room, where she could see two figures standing. The ceiling was high and arched, with not much to attach her yoyo too. There would be no swinging like she usually did down here. It was the complete opposite of the rest of the city, like a dirty secret that Paris had done its best to hide.

The elevator doors slid open, but Spiderman thrust out an arm before she could step out. He shot a web at a spot in the ground and a net descended from the roof, folding up on the spot where the web had hit before retracting back upwards slightly. If Marinette had been the one stepping there, she would’ve been caught in the net with no way out.

“How’d you see that?” She asked, turning to look at him.

“Not so much as saw as…felt,” he said. “I can sense danger, the difference between reality and illusion, all that.” Spidey gave her a curt nod before leading the group off the elevator. So that was how he’d known her identity. Illusions, magical or not, were all lost on him. The thought was somehow comforting.

“You come at last,” the Papillon’s voice carried through the room as the trio made their way to the catwalk, slinking along.

“I hope you weren’t expecting a friendly reunion,” Spiderman said, nimbly leaping over a certain section on the bridge. Chat and Marinette followed in suit.

She also took a second to glance over the edge and really wished she hadn’t. Water emptied from the sides of the wall down into a pit so deep she couldn’t see the bottom, only hear the sound of the water as it met a pool deep down. It was enough to make her dizzy.

But Marinette didn’t have time to dwell on it as they reached the Papillon and Nathalie and, set up behind them, Adrien’s mother. She sucked in a breath, eyes landing on Émilie Agreste’s folded hands, warm skin, and crisp pantsuit. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have assumed she was just asleep.

She turned to see Chat’s reaction and instantly regretted it. His eyes were filled with longing as he looked at his mother’s face, an insurmountable amount of pain displayed on his own. Marinette wanted nothing more than to take away that pain, or at least share the burden, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing except make sure the Papillon didn’t clue in that Chat was his son.

“You knew we didn’t have Adrien and Peter. So why come at all?” The Papillon challenged, apparently having decided that Spiderman was the ringleader as he directed his comment at him.

“I’m so sick and tired of you. I couldn’t just sit around and wait for you to actually get your hands on someone, now could I? We’re here to put an end to this. Now.” Spiderman spoke with a conviction that filled Marinette up an emboldened sense of hope. Things ended here. Today.

“Very well.” The Papillon twirled what appeared to be a crudely made staff in his hands. Marinette didn’t know what had happened to his old one, but Spidey didn’t seem surprised. Perhaps he’d had something to do with it.

The Papillon swung at Spidey and he dodged it, retaliating with an attack of his own. And so the fight began, the time for pleasantries over. Marinette followed Chat’s advice and went for Nathalie, wrapping her up in her yoyo before the assistant could so much as move. Giving Chat the time he needed with his mom to do whatever it was he needed to do.

She watched him approach the glass container, pressing a hand up against it and leaning forwards so that his forehead touched it. It seemed like a private moment, something she shouldn’t have been witnessing, but she couldn’t look away. Adrien was the eye of the hurricane of the fight between the Papillon and Spiderman, her straining to contain Nathalie, and while everything was quiet for him in that moment she had a feeling it wouldn’t be for long.

“You can rest now,” she heard him whisper, and then he was reaching for a plug she hadn’t noticed at the bottom of the coffin. Perhaps all the water was creating hydro electricity to power to room, she didn’t know. All she knew now was that Adrien was about to willingly kill his mother. There would be no bringing her back once he did it. No amount of miraculous would repair it, no godlike power would ever bring her back.

Nathalie let out a yell as Chat’s hand closed around the plug and the Papillon spun on the spot, roaring and smacking Chat across the chest with his metal cane. “Get away from her!”

He moved to charge at Chat, but Spidey had other ideas, firing a web at the Papillon’s back that prevented him from going anywhere.

“You have to let her go,” Chat yelled, hand finding the plug once again. “You can’t bring her back!”

“What do you know of the miraculous, boy? What do you know about what you can and can’t do?”

“I know this isn’t what she would have wanted,” Chat said resolutely. “You need to let her move on.” And with that he pulled the plug.

The Papillon screamed, breaking free of Spidey’s bonds and charging at the other hero, his senseless words threatening murder. Chat didn’t seem to remember how to move as he stood, watching the life drain out of his mother’s face.

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Nathalie said from her spot on the ground. “You kids have no idea what you’re doing.” Marinette almost had to agree with her.

Marinette barely saw what happened as Spiderman fired a web at Nathalie so fast, sending her reeling backwards against the yoyo. Spidey had smacked a gag over her mouth. And then he was in between the Papillon and Chat, stretching webbing between his hands.

“You want to get to Chat? You have to get through me.” And then he was dropping to the floor, using his momentum and body weight to drive the Papillon’s legs out from underneath him, wrapping a web around his ankles and shooting it up to the ceiling, leaving the Papillon to dangle there like a dead bird on a spit.

“Last chance,” Spidey said, standing in front of their enemy. “We’re giving you a chance to reconsider your stance on this whole thing. It’s not too late to apologize for everything you’ve done; to make amends.”

Chat still couldn’t seem to draw his eyes away from his now-dead mother. Marinette longed to run over there and throw her arms around him and make all his pain go away. But she couldn’t. She had to keep Nathalie at bay.

“You’re all murderers,” the Papillon spat. “But I _will_ bring her back once I have your miraculous. This is _your_ last chance before I stop at nothing to get them.”

“Don’t call us that!” That seemed to be the only thing to snap Chat out of his stupor, and he stormed towards his dad. “You have no idea what it’s been like fighting you all these years.” His eyes flashed. “She’s _gone_ and I’m sorry you’re too devoted to whatever you call _this_ - _”_ he gestured wildly “-to see it.”

Suddenly his eyes slipped away from his dad’s face and towards Marinette, his eyebrows raising and mouth slowly opening as he moved to yell something to her. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Marinette turned slightly to look down at Nathalie, just in time to see Nathalie slip a silver dagger right into Marinette’s side.

Her suit should’ve stopped it, but the knife glittered with a material Marinette had never seen before. She saw Spiderman release taser webs out of the corner of her vision and Nathalie’s hand release the dagger as she fell backwards, body writhing.

Instantly, the edges of Marinette’s eyesight fogged as she felt herself begin to fall backwards, Peter’s steady voice entering her head. Right, they’d been over that sort of thing, hadn’t they? In case of stabbing and dismemberment?

 _“I think it’s best we go over some simple first-aid just in case something goes down that we can’t control,”_ Peter had said before they went after Adrien. Marinette had been in too much emotional shock to contribute much, but she’d nodded, doing her best to file away that information in case she needed it again. And low and behold, she was able to recall it now.

_“Being stabbed is literally so much worse than you think it is. Trust me, I speak from experience. But if you’re not stabbed in the heart or neck, it’s survivable. Now tell me, Marinette. If you’re stabbed, what’s your number one cause of concern?”_

_“Bleeding out, isn’t it?”_

_“Good. When blood loss reaches about thirty to forty percent of blood volume, you lose consciousness and then you won’t be able to stop bleeding out until you die.”_

She shut her eyes and all of a sudden Peter was there in front of her, in her mind. They were standing on the top level of the Eiffel Tower, a slight breeze ruffling his hair. He inspected her, brow drawn. Such a short reprise from reality, as she could tell the scene was a byproduct of her own panicking mind, but a welcome one nonetheless.

_“So, Marinette, are you going to bleed out right now?”_

She looked down at her side, almost surprised to see a knife sticking out of it. A slight trickle of blood ran down her side as she breathed, not a lot, but enough to cause a metallic smell to fill her nostrils.

_“The knife is still there.”_

_“Good. Keep it there. Pulling it out could slice more blood vessels. If you’re ever stabbed and the object is removed, then put as much pressure on it as possible. But since this obviously isn’t the case here, what’s the next thing that’s going to kill you?”_

She looked down at her hands, slowly lifting them in front of her. They were shaking and pale, like they were turning grey. Peter looked at them, then at her, inclining his head slightly.

 _“Shock,”_ she said.

_“I’m glad to see you remembered my lesson. Shock will prevent your body from getting enough oxygen and blood. And right now, you need all the blood you can get. If you go into shock, you’ll pass out, and why do we want to keep you conscious?”_

_“If I pass out, there’s nothing to stop me from bleeding out.”_

_“If you pass out now, you can cause the knife to shift inside you and cause more damage. You need to stay conscious, and to do that you need to calm down. If you lose too much blood, your body will go into shock regardless. For now, you need to focus on keeping your breathing regular. Do everything you can to delay that survival instinct. I need you conscious._ Adrien _needs you conscious. If you die right now, that’ll screw everything up. Plus, the fact that you’re hallucinating me right now is actually kind of concerning.”_

 _“Shut up.”_ She rolled her eyes at him. _“It’s stopping me from dying.”_

_“Yeah, well, real life Peter is undoubtedly having a panic attack. Not to mention Adrien. You gotta snap out of this and control your own life. And don’t die, although I think that goes without saying. I’ll be real disappointed if you kick the bucket on me with no warning.”_

_“I don’t think I really have too much of a choice.”_

_“Marinette, you always have a choice, regardless if you can tell what the options are.”_ Good to know even the Peter in her subconscious was as enigmatic as ever.

_“How long has passed?”_

_“Two seconds. By the way, this is going to hurt. Like a lot if you can successfully not go into debilitating shock. Being stabbed is so much worse than getting shot and you’re going to feel everything.”_

Her eyes snapped open and she drew in a shuddering breath, grabbing the rail before she could sink to the ground, her knees buckling beneath her. Pain was all she could feel; all that there was at this point. Marinette couldn’t even remember what it had been like two minutes ago when she hadn’t been stabbed and had been oblivious to the kind of pain a tiny blade could inflict. It had only been a few seconds and yet the pain felt like it was permanent. Had always been and always would be.

The hot blood against her skin, the feeling of the cold blade against her organs, she wasn’t even sure how she’d managed to be stabbed. But then again, Gabriel Agreste had been studying the spell book of the miraculous. Maybe he’d managed to translate it and create a blade that could cut through even their suits. After all, Helios’s rope had managed to burn through Mayura’s suit. Maybe it was the same principle.

She had so much to think about, and yet she couldn’t think of any of it as the pain overwhelmed her.

* * *

Marinette had been stabbed, and Peter had been powerless to stop it. He’d expected her to be paying attention, to block the strike, and he’d never expected the blade to actually meet its target. It had been half instinct on his part as he fired taser webs at Nathalie without remorse and watched her go down. She wasn’t actually unconscious, he knew that – despite what Hollywood had done so hard to make people believe – just in excruciating pain.

The Papillon was yelling again, calling him a murderer yet again, but Peter tuned him out as his gaze focused in on Marinette. She took a gasping breath, eyes meeting his in a silent plea.

He was halfway to her before he heard the telltale noises of someone landing on the ground.

Gabriel Agreste had gotten out of his bonds and was walking towards Chat, positively towering over him. “It’s what she deserves, you know,” he said.

And that seemed to be the last straw for Chat. His father was taking everything from him; his mother, his girlfriend, his chances at a normal life. Peter knew what was going to happen before it did, but he could do nothing but stare as emotions got the better of Chat.

“Cataclysm!” He yelled, running towards his father, hate beyond anything Peter had ever seen on his face burning in his eyes.

“Chat! No!” Marinette choked out and Chat’s gaze turned towards her for the briefest of moments, his step faltering. And that was all the invitation the Papillon needed.

Their enemy reached out, grabbing Chat’s hand that was bubbling with destructive magic, and pressed it against his forehead.

And Peter screamed, Adrien’s death hitting him like a slap to the face.

He wished the cataclysm had had a visible effect, something that would be visibly reversible, but nothing happened as Chat fell to the ground, his eyes fluttering shut. The Papillon knelt to reach for Chat’s ring, but before he could, Chat’s transformation fell around him, leaving Adrien Agreste lying there, unmoving against the ground.

“Adrien!” Everyone yelled in unison. Peter’s anklet was heating up underneath his suit, and burning against his skin. A reminder.

“You’ve taken _everything_ from me.” Gabriel turned, giving Peter a horrified look and raising his staff. The expression on his enemy’s face promised he’d give Peter hell, but Peter couldn’t even bring himself to think about anything that wasn’t Adrien and bringing him back.

“I can heal him,” Peter practically sobbed, his ears ringing. “Let me heal him.”

“You can’t do anything. Give me the ladybug miraculous and I’ll heal him with the power of a god.”

“I can heal him with the power of a god too,” Peter said. He was counting down the seconds in his head. Adrien didn’t have long before there was nothing Peter could do. Only five short minutes before he was gone somewhere Peter couldn’t follow.

“How? You’re just a boy. The only one who can do that is Helios, and I don’t see him anywhere.” Despite the fact that his son was laying there, dead, Gabriel didn’t seem to be thinking about anything besides getting his miraculous, too blindsided to see that he’d already lost everything he’d been working to hold together.

“Suluu!” Peter yelled. “Transform me!”

The Papillon paused, eyes going wide as Peter welcomed the transformation that washed over him. The inferno started at his ankle, turning his suit to the same colour as molten lava, webbing designs as bright as a midday sun, his usual harness strapping itself across his chest and resting his lasso against his back. He felt his eyes ignite, burning with all the anger he possessed as heat rolled off him in waves. The suit usually burned as he donned it, but today, right now, he barely felt it.

“Impossible,” Nathalie croaked from her spot on the floor, having evidently spat out her gag.

“Surprise, bitch.” Peter had never felt so powerful as he stood there, looking in the Papillon’s eyes and seeing nothing but fear. “Ever heard the saying, ‘qui totum vult totum perdit’? He who wants everything loses everything. Sounds applicable, don’t it?”

“You will not lay one finger on my son.” Something about that word, _son_ , coming from Gabriel’s mouth as his son lay dead behind him struck a nerve with Peter. Gabriel Agreste had never been a father to Adrien, that was for sure. And now he was denying his one chance at saving his son, hinging it all on something he had never been able to acquire.

Peter had always preached the importance of remaining level-headed, but that all snapped as he heard Ladybug’s strangled cry behind him. To hell with diplomacy, to hell with procedure and being cautious. Sometimes you couldn’t be cautious, not when everything was on the line. Sometimes you had to be dangerous and be bold and be everything you ever promised yourself not to be and just pray like hell that it paid off. And that was what Peter intended on doing.

“Adrien was my best friend,” Peter practically yelled, storming closer to the Papillon, whose gaze dropped back down to his son’s broken body, seemingly unable to look away. “All he ever wanted was to be as free as he was when he was Chat Noir. All he ever wanted was to be loved. But _you_ , you treated him like a commodity.”

“Adrien was my son,” Gabriel said coldly. “Everything I did was for his protection. I loved him.”

“You don’t do that to people you love!” Peter cried out, voice breaking. “I know what you put him through and even then I still thought you were capable of love! I thought you were redeemable! But you never loved Adrien as a human being. You loved him as a prized possession. Those are two completely different things, Gabriel.”

“You know nothing about me, Spiderman.”

“My name is Peter Parker and Adrien Agreste was like a brother to me.” Peter was full on crying beneath the suit now. “And the first time I met you, you said I didn’t understand how the world works and maybe I don’t! Maybe I never will! But I do understand that Adrien was far too good for you. You didn’t deserve him. The world didn’t deserve Adrien Agreste. Because in the end, the only thing he needed protecting from was you. And I’m going to heal him even if I have to kill you to do it. ‘Cause Adrien deserves someone who’s going to fight for him. He deserves someone who loves him for all that he is and all that he can be and who would _never ever put him in harm’s way for their personal gain_!”

“Stop talking!” The Papillon threw his baton in Peter’s direction and he smacked it away with ease, backing him against a railing.

“Adrien was never good enough for you. And he tried so hard to make you happy. That’s not love. And it pains me to think that if he’d never become Chat Noir, he’d never have experienced love. When he was hurting, he came to me and Ladybug. When he was lost, he came to me and Ladybug. When he was scared and afraid and confused, not _once_ did he seek you out! Because he knows he deserves better. And I know Adrien, and I know he would’ve been ready to forgive you. He would’ve forgiven you, even after all you’ve done to him. Even though we all know you deserve nothing.”

“Once I have my miraculous, I’ll make Adrien forget all this. I’ll give him a happy life where he has everything he’ll ever want. And that won’t include you, Peter Parker.”

“I once thought I was cruel for giving people who didn’t know better a chance to choose for themselves,” Peter said coldly. “That is nothing compared to the evil of never giving them a choice in the first place. You can’t just do-over any outcome you don’t like. And people don’t live forever and sometimes we lose them!” A tiny voice in the back of his head reminded him of something Suluu had said, what seemed like ages ago, when they’d found Émilie for the first time. “That’s why we love people. We love them because they don’t live forever. All that we live for and all that we love is because we know that nothing lasts forever and that the value of our humanity lies within the fact that we are mortal! And mortal things fade! Adrien has always known that.”

“What he won’t know won’t hurt him,” Gabriel smiled, a grotesque, sardonic smile.

Peter was tempted to keep fighting him, to make him see his side of the story, but he glanced at Adrien, and he could feel the death like Suluu had described it to him. Looking at Adrien’s limp body, he felt a chill sweep over him, despite the natural heat Helios provided. This wasn’t about proving things to the Papillon. This was about saving Adrien, because despite what he’d just said, this wasn’t Adrien’s time to die. And he was running out of time to save him.

He attached Gabriel’s hands to the rail with a web, maybe tasered, maybe not, running over and crouching besides Adrien’s body. It was like his friend was sleeping, his lips parted slightly though no breath escaped them, his golden hair spread out beneath him like a halo, a tear still glittering on his cheek.

“Adrien,” he whispered, sending his face masking away as Marinette stumbled over, landing hard on her knees beside him. “I’m so sorry.”

“Can you heal him?” Marinette whispered, brushing Adrien’s hair back.

“I can try,” Peter said, taking a shaking breath, doing his best to calm himself before he realized he needed to do the opposite. He needed to lose control, let himself feel all the hurt to produce the song as potently as he needed for the healing tears.

Flashes of him and Adrien coursed through his mind, building pressure behind his eyeballs until it spilled out as tears that evaporated as they touched his skin. This was his best friend, and he needed to heal him. Adrien was not a debt he could pay. He couldn’t live with that on his conscience.

He screamed again, burying his head in the crook of Adrien’s neck as the song washed over him. Peter was vaguely aware of a golden light bursting from him as thick tears made their way down his face. He caught a tear on one finger and reached out blindly, finding the hilt of the knife that was buried in Marinette’s side and pulling it out, ignoring her gasp of pain as he dropped the tear onto the wound. But it wasn’t her he was most worried about.

“Adrien,” he said, crying harder. “Come back.”

“Peter,” Marinette said weakly, tugging at his arm.

Peter pulled his head away from Adrien’s body, letting the molten gold tears that continued to flow drop onto various areas of his person, trying to find the magic spot that would bring his friend back to life.

“I can’t live without you,” he admitted, sobbing. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. We were supposed to be brothers forever. You can’t leave me here. I can’t lose you too.”

“Peter,” Marinette repeated. “Look.” He blinked through the golden tears, looking at their surroundings. Everything was glowing gold and it took Peter a moment to realize the light was coming from _him._ It was like he was the sun, giant white wings of light unfurling on either side of him, golden tendrils curling from his heart into the air. Suluu had never described anything like it when she’d done an in-depth walk through of his powers. Maybe she’d never seen it happen.

A chorus of voices, discordant yet beautiful, reached his ears.

“Do you hear the singing?” Marinette asked, her eyes wide in wonder.

“It’s not singing,” Peter realized. “They’re speaking to me.”

“You can understand them?”

“They’re saying….” He scrunched his face up in concentration. “It’s not really something I can _say._ They’re giving me hope, strength.” He looked down at Adrien’s face. “ _Life._ ” He didn’t know what the voices were, nor did he have the strength to care. His whole world was a house of cards, prepared to be knocked over by the faintest of breaths. Everything hinged on Adrien pulling through.

“Are they bringing him back?” She asked, her voice laced with desperate hope.

“We’ve all done what we can,” Peter said, eyes tracing every contour of Adrien’s face. “The rest is up to him now.”


	22. À l’infini

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being MIA for the past few weeks, life got crazy busy, but I’m back with the final chapter of this story. Before we get into it, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has commented, kudo’d, or even just taken the time to read this story. It means so much to me and I truly love you all.

_In the land beyond the sun,_

_Lies only Par’dise_

_Where the Phoenix doth reside_

_For it is their realm._

_And in such realm_

_Its inhabitants know not of the dark_

_But only of light_

_For there one cannot miss the sun._

When he was eight, Adrien and his mother had gone to the English countryside for a weekend to visit a ranch he later learned she’d grown up in. He’d gotten to ride a horse, a skill easier in theory than in practice, and he’d fallen off and cut his elbow open. It had bled all over the place and his mom had had to patch him up herself, all while humming a song he’d never been able to place. It was only now that he realized it was _La vie en rose_ as he came to, realization only brought to light by the sound of someone humming it somewhere beside him.

The corners of his vision fuzzed with resistance as he awoke gradually, eyes twinging as they took in the sudden light. He was back at the ranch, this time spread out on the grass beneath a tall tree. The grass was soft beneath his fingertips, damp with dew although he himself was dry. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet; it was an early morning and everything was still covered in fog as he blinked, taking in his surroundings. And beside him sat his mother, humming as she drew something on a pad of paper.

“Maman?” He whispered, slowly sitting up.

“Isn’t it peaceful?” She said, eyes meeting his and giving him that smile, the sort that lit up his whole world and was so full of _love._ How many nights had he dreamt of seeing that smile again?

“Maman!” Adrien threw himself into her arms, burying his face into her shirt, tears flowing freely. “I missed you so bad.”

“I missed you too.” She hugged him back, a sensation that Adrien hadn’t known how badly he’d been missing until he could feel it again. She was there and she was real and it was like he was a kid all over again. “You’ve gotten so big!”

“You haven’t aged a day,” Adrien said through the tears, taking in her appearance. Not a hair was out of place in her usual spiral that tumbled down her shoulder. She was dressed in a soft white dress that ruffled slightly in the tiniest of breezes.

“That’s one of the perks of being here,” she said, waving an arm out at the countryside. “Plus, I can finally keep watch on you.”

“Are we dead?” Adrien said slowly. “Did Père…?”

His mother looked away, eyes full of pain as she turned them towards the horizon. “This is all my fault.”

“No,” Adrien said firmly. “We have to stop blaming ourselves for his mistakes. He did this to us.” He grabbed the sides of her face, wanting to see every inch of his mother’s face after being denied the pleasure for so long. He wanted her to be happy. She should have felt free, but now the guilt was weighing her down.

“I promised your dad we would be together forever, and that was my first mistake, mon chou.” She cupped his face in turn. “There is no forever when you live like we do. Even tomorrow is not guaranteed when you’re a hero. Don’t make forever promises, Adrien. You won’t be able to keep them.”

He hugged her again, content for a moment just to sit there and look out at the slowly rising sun. “What happens now?”

“Nothing,” she said, stroking his hair. “That’s the beauty of it.”

“I killed you,” he blurted. “I pulled the plug that was keeping you sleeping in that coffin.”

“Thank you.”

“Did I make the right choice?”

“You freed me, Adrien. I’d rather not live at all than live like that. At least here I can feel again.”

“Are you proud of me?” He knew the answer. He needed to hear her say it, as though hearing her speak those words one more time would make up for all the times he’d missed them.

“Always. Even when I couldn’t see you, I was proud of you. You’ve never disappointed me.”

“I always disappointed Père.” Adrien shifted to lie beside her once more, propping his back up against the tree. “I really tried to make him proud but it never worked. I just wanted you back.” His green eyes met hers and she gave him a sad smile.

“I’m so sorry. I never intended to leave you.”

“Well, we’ll just make sure you never leave me again. This is forever, isn’t it? You’ll never have to leave ever again.” He stared out at the cows in the distance. “I didn’t want to leave Marinette and Peter behind, but I guess this is how it was meant to be.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” his mother said, brow creasing slightly, looking at the sun.

“What do you mean?” He propped himself up on one elbow, squinting. It seemed like the sun was getting closer to them at an impossibly fast rate.

“Someone’s not ready to give up on you just yet.” Adrien glanced back at her. She was smiling.

“What is it?”

“A phoenix, one of the guardians of this realm.”

The light reached them, so blinding Adrien couldn’t even see and had to shut his eyes tightly until it gently faded.

“Suluu?” He said incredulously, squinting at the phoenix who had come to retrieve him. She was in human form, only massive wings spread out from her back, easily the span of several buildings. Her eyes were milky white, her lips blood red. If he’d thought she looked powerful on earth, that was nothing compared to now. Without the usual mischievous sparkle in her eye, Suluu looked downright dangerous in the most ethereal sense.

“It feels good to be back.” She looked around, a smile playing at her lips. “Hello Madame Agreste.”

“Hello, Your Majesty,” his mother responded.

“Your Majesty?” Adrien raised an eyebrow at Suluu.

“I’m the phoenix god, what did you expect? This is my territory that I’ve been separated from for so long. There’s lots of phoenixes, and this is where they’re born and where they live. All that is beautiful and pure stays here.”

“Where is ‘here’?” Adrien asked, running a hand over the grass. It was so real, so vivid, there was no way it could be his imagination.

“It’s Paradise.” She flashed her pearly white teeth at him.

“It’s perfect.” He breathed out, eyes falling on the ranch house in the far distance. Something told him he could make this world look however he pleased, make reality bend to his will. This was his mother’s happy place, hence why she had crafted it as such. All the perfection of the world and none of the evil. “Why are you so determined to be human?”

“As a kwami, I can’t stay here. Plus, I made this place as perfect as it is. Who’s to say I can’t make Earth a tiny bit more beautiful too.”

“Why are you here?” Adrien could barely dare to hope.

“Peter and Marinette are extremely determined _not_ to let you die. He used the healing tears after giving your dad a bit of a verbal smackdown, and they’re currently crying over your dead body. I’ve got to be honest, you’ve kind of grown on me. So, if you so choose, it’s time to go home.”

Adrien looked at his mother. “But I’d be leaving you.”

“I’m not going to go anywhere,” his mother said, gently running a hand up the side of his cheek.

“I just got you back. I don’t know if I can lose you again.”

“You’re not losing me, Adrien. You know exactly where I am. When you time comes for real, I’ll be waiting for you.”

Suluu held out her hand and Adrien rose slowly, gently taking it.

“Émilie?” Suluu said, quickly, glancing down. “A word of advice. Eternity is a long time. I suggest you learn to forgive what you can’t forget.”

“I understand.” His mother gave Suluu a brief nod, eyes dropping to the ground.

“Bye bye, Maman,” Adrien said, looking at her for one last time. “I’ll see you again.”

“I’m so proud of you, Adrien. And I love you, forever and always, no matter where we are.” She slipped the drawing she’d been working on into his pocket, resuming her humming as she did so.

“Forever and always,” he repeated, and then Suluu was leading him towards the sun.

“Ready to go back?” Suluu asked, pausing at the very edge of whatever world they were within, her long eyelashes fluttering.

His mother was watching him, just a speck in the distance, but he could see her nod, just once. Her song still seemed to travel somehow, or maybe it was playing all around him as Suluu lead him into the sun.

_Des ennuis,_ _des chagrins s’effacent. Heureux, heureux à en mourir._

Adrien felt himself return to his body once the bright light had subsided. He didn’t dare open his eyes just yet, and everything felt so _heavy._ Wherever he’d just been had been so unimaginably light, so far beyond the pain that plagued his body now. In fact, he couldn’t pinpoint whether that weighted feeling was from injuries he’d sustained or just the general feeling of being alive.

Slowly, ever so carefully, he opened his eyes, entirely unprepared for what he saw. Peter was kneeling beside him along with Marinette, and as much as Adrien wanted to look at Marinette, he couldn’t help but stare at his friend. White light surrounded the three of them, like they were the only ones in their own little world. And _Peter._

Giant wings, not unlike the ones Suluu had sported, only in white, stretched out behind him, his eyes the same glowing white. He was bathed in so much light, and he seemed to be the source, to the point where there was no other word to describe the sight other than beautiful. In that moment, Peter was just like Suluu whenever she paraded around as a human. Beauty in the divine. Otherworldly and entirely unattainable.

“Adrien!” Marinette cried out, having noticed his eyes opening, and she was tackling him in a hug, gripping his shoulders as she landed on top of him.

“I’m alive?” Adrien held up his hands, inspecting them before confirming that he wasn’t, in fact, hallucinating, and using them to wrap his arms around his girlfriend.

Peter’s transformation dropped beside them, light fading with it as Suluu spiralled out from his anklet, catching the cinnamon candy Peter threw her. Suluu shot Adrien a wink before transforming Peter once again.

“You’re alive,” Peter assured him. “I mean, you were very much dead, but it’s a good thing that I’m determined.”

Adrien’s eyes came into focus and he honed in on his father, who was confined by Peter’s webbing that had his hands trapped against the rail. Their eyes met, and Adrien waited for something, _anything_. Some sign of remorse, some sort of regret, but he was only faced with hardened displeasure.

“Nooroo, detransform me.” The Papillon disappeared, replacing the silver mask with Gabriel Agreste’s stern face. Free from the webbing, he approached their group slowly, and they all paused, waiting for what he had to say. Hoping for a change of heart.

“You’ve seen her, haven’t you?” Gabriel said impassively, tone betraying nothing. Adrien simply glared at him. “So you understand now, that you, me, and your mother could live together. Forever. No one would ever have to leave again.”

Marinette’s hand landed on Adrien’s shoulder, gently massaging it, giving him the strength he needed to speak. “Don’t make forever promises, Père. I could never want that.”

He stood on slightly shaky feet, facing his dad for possibly one of the first times ever, meeting his gaze without hesitation. “All I want is to end this, to be able to tell my girlfriend I love her tomorrow. To be able to go watch a movie with Peter and eat another cake. Because they’re my family now. They were my family when you never could be. They’ve never forgotten my birthday, never made me feel inferior, never made me wonder if they cared at all. And I love them! I love them because every day with them could be my last, and to restrict your love is a foolish thing! I love them because I know love will continue when I cannot. And it’s because forever isn’t guaranteed that I love them so freely and I wouldn’t have it any other way. In a world where nothing lasts forever, maybe mortal is the best thing someone can be.”

“You don’t understand, Adrien. I’ve never expected you to. But this is what’s best for us.”

“What about for everyone else?” Adrien refused to back down. “This isn’t best for them. And I saw Maman. She’s happy. At peace. She doesn’t want to come back here. She’s just content to sit and watch the sun rise on the countryside.”

“You didn’t actually see her, Adrien. You were hallucinating, imagining things. Side effect of death, I’m afraid.”

“And whose fault is that?”

His father’s brow creased and he spun away, body tensing up as he transformed back into Adrien’s enemy. And without a second thought, Adrien was Chat Noir once more, baton at the ready to block his father’s first strike.

Ladybug and Spiderman joined him on either side as they attacked. Nathalie scrambled to her feet, attempting to join the fray, but Peter quickly tied her back up.

The three of them worked like a well-oiled machine, easily combatting the Papillon’s attempts at fighting back. They backed him up against the railing, Adrien pushing his baton against his father’s shoulders, levelling a glare.

Then a tiny, white, harmless butterfly landed in his father’s hand.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug yelled, catching the bowl that fell from her yoyo and slapping it over the akumatized butterfly the second Gabriel released it.

“How dare you,” Adrien growled, shoving his father harder. “How dare you try and hurt us?”

“Adrien?” Peter said, sounding slightly concerned. “Be careful.”

Adrien wasn’t listening, instead glowering at his father, hoping his hate showed in his eyes. Predictably, the Papillon did his best to regain the upper hand, hands gripping the bar that pressed against him, pushing it back towards Adrien, who dropped to the floor, aiming a kick at his father’s legs. His father backed up to avoid it. He lost his balance.

And that was all it took, Peter’s warning was lost on Adrien’s deaf ears as his father toppled over the edge of the railing. Adrien scrambled to his feet, rushing to the edge, frantically looking at the chasm below, at the water that poured into the bottom. Nathalie was crying somewhere behind him, screaming out for the disappearing speck.

“I’ll go after him,” Peter said, without hesitation, fixing a web to the railing.

“Wait!” Adrien held out a hand. “It’s a long way down.”

“Don’t worry,” Spiderman cocked his head. “I’m not afraid of the fall.” And with that, Peter was gracefully diving over the edge, arms open like a swan. And maybe that was what Adrien was afraid of, perhaps worried that Spiderman’s courage could make him blind.

Part of Adrien felt like he should’ve been the one to go after his father, but he knew that was insane. There was no way he could’ve done that. Plus, his father had killed him, then tried to kill him again.

But now Adrien might’ve killed his father.

It was taking Peter too long to return. Adrien turned to Ladybug, panicking, when the telltale sounds of a web zipping drew his attention back to the railing as the web pulled taunt, then Peter was leaping through the air, holding an unconscious, water-drenched man in his arms, Papillon transformation long gone.

“Père!” Adrien yelled, trying to get close, but Peter didn’t let him as he deposited his father on the ground, placing his hands square on Gabriel’s chest before beginning harsh compressions.

Adrien was frozen on the spot as he watched, wanting to help but uncertain how. The CPR unit in his gym class had never covered how utterly horrific it was, and all the tv shows that had depicted it as romantic had lied. The sound of popping cartilage was all Adrien could hear above the roar of water as Peter continued his attempts at reviving his father. A battle against death was harsh, bruising, and unforgiving. There was nothing idealistic about the way Peter’s interwoven hands slammed down on his father’s chest.

“Ladybug!” Peter yelled and Marinette, her own transformation now gone, kneeled next to the body on the floor. “Continue compressions and ventilations, I’m going to try something.”

He held his hands up, and as Adrien watched in horror, the palms begun to glow with a blue light.

“Back up,” Peter said to Marinette after a moment, shooing her away before pressing his palm’s to the body, one on each side of his father’s chest. Like a marionette with its strings cut, Gabriel’s body lurched on the ground, but Peter’s impromptu paddles seemed to have no effect.

“That didn’t work!” Marinette yelled, tears streaming down her face. Adrien wasn’t sure when she’d started crying again, and maybe she’d never stopped.

“The charge was my last resort,” Peter replied breathlessly. “If there’s no heartbeat, it can’t do anything. I don’t have any epinephrine on me, that’s what would restart the heart entirely.”

Adrien barely understood what Peter was saying, and only one part registered with him. _No heartbeat._

The phoenix song filled the room, followed by the same white light as before as Peter released his face from Spiderman’s masking, kneeling over Gabriel Agreste’s broken body. All malice was gone from his father’s face as Peter dripped golden tears onto his chest, but somehow Adrien knew it wasn’t going to be enough.

Five minutes passed and Peter’s transformation faded around him and still the dead man didn’t move. Ladybug stood and backed away, stepping backwards to stand beside Adrien.

“He’s….” Peter’s eyes didn’t meet Adrien’s. “He’s gone, I’m sorry.”

“I killed him,” Adrien said quietly. “I caused him to lose his balance.”

“It was either that or he’d kill you,” Marinette immediately leapt to his defence. “ _Again._ You can’t blame yourself.”

Adrien nodded stupidly, but his eyes were fixed on Peter, who had bared his hand and rested it against his father’s forehead. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know.” Peter had his eyes closed and only his mouth moved as he replied. “I can see something.”

Adrien exchanged a look with Marinette. “Where’s Suluu?”

“She’s not here,” Peter breathed out slowly. “She’s with him and she’s telling me he’s okay. He’s calm. Happy. Reunited. You did the right thing, Adrien. It couldn’t have ended any other way.”

Adrien stepped through the puddle of water that surrounded his father’s body, sinking to the ground beside Peter, doing his best to imagine what his father was seeing. The ranch. The fog. The sunrise?

“It’s sunset,” Peter said quietly. “The night sky is going to be remarkable tonight. He’s apologized, and there will be eternity to make up for his mistakes, and one day she’ll forgive him. Sometimes you have to forgive what you can’t forget.”

That line, that little line he’d heard Suluu utter to his mother was all the confirmation Adrien needed. Everything was okay. It was going to turn out okay.

He was crying, maybe he had been for awhile, Adrien didn’t know. Marinette retransformed behind him and purified the last akuma that would ever terrorize them, before launching the last lucky charm into the sky that would undo the Papillon’s damage.

Trembling fingers removed his father’s broach, as Adrien looked down at the tiny little thing that had caused that much trouble. The tiny thing that had taken everything from him. He had the overwhelming desire to cataclysm it, but before he could, Ladybug plucked it from his hands and placed in in a miraculous box.

“My suit’s scanners are telling me that the police are outside and in the house,” Peter said, having severed his connection with the afterlife and masked back up. “Apparently the city saw a beam of bright white light extending into the sky earlier when I brought you back to life. People are panicking a little bit.”

“This is the end?” Adrien said, rising slowly and taking Marinette’s hand in his. “It all seems so simple now.”

“It’s not over yet,” Marinette said. “We have to hand Nathalie off to the police and let the city know what happened but…the hard part is over.”

Adrien’s eyes drifted to his mother in her casket. The day had taken two casualties, two he’d never get back, but there would be time to mourn later. There’d also be time to celebrate. Now was neither of those times. Now he just had to put one foot in front of the other and make it out of there.

Peter fashioned a pair of handcuffs to slap around Nathalie’s wrists and pulled her to her feet, leading their party towards the elevator. Adrien stepped in, looking out at the scene as they ascended. Two bodies, both so small and peaceful in death, laid amongst a scene that had once held so much fear for Adrien, was almost sort of poetic. A small patch of light fell upon the area where the casket had been stored, making the dead look younger, almost like they were glowing. Like it was sunset on their features.

Everything was a haze of cameras and reporters and police as the three ragged heroes stepped out into the street. Spiderman handed Nathalie off to someone, before motioning for Adrien to leave.

“Ladybug and I will handle the reporters while they bring out the bodies. Get away from here, somewhere you can breathe.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Adrien zipped off into the twilight sky as his friends turned to address the sea of journalists below. Just for once, he was truly alone. And he was okay with that. He wasn’t lonely like he had been, he had people who loved him both on earth and above. This night, for the first time ever, he was content with his thoughts and the big wide world around him.

Fumbling fingers reached into his suit’s pocket and pulled out a tiny piece of paper, smoothing out the wrinkles as he unfolded his mother’s drawing. It was the silhouette of the two of them in the position he’d awoken to, looking out at the countryside. The drawing was done in pencil, but Adrien’s brain filled in the colours. It had been real after all.

He found an abandoned plaza with a public piano standing in the middle and he detransformed before approaching it and sitting at the bench, tucking the drawing back into his pocket. His fingers moved of their own accord, and he couldn’t tell you what tune he played, but there would be plenty time tomorrow to figure out his place in the world. Tonight it was just him and his requiem and the stars above. Tonight it was just peace.

* * *

It was three days before they were allowed back into the Agreste mansion. Peter and Adrien had wound up staying at Marinette’s house as they made arrangements for the funeral, a real one this time. The public had worked itself up into a frenzy over the identity of Mayura and the Papillon, requests for interviews flooding Spiderman’s inbox. But Peter paid no mind to any of them. It was too soon to talk about those kinds of things, and they’d have the rest of their lives to talk about it. For now, he had to stand by Adrien.

“It feels weird,” Adrien admitted as they crossed the police tape, heading into the house. Everything had been picked apart by the police, examined as they pieced together everything that had happened.

“It does,” Peter said as they stepped into his bedroom. It was like a veil separated them from the room, from all the joy and scheming that had occurred there. Adrien and Marinette were still holding hands, another veil that Peter had expected. The fact that they were a couple meant things would be different between Peter and Adrien, but not necessarily in a bad way. In a way, he’d fulfilled his end of the deal he’d had with Alya all that time ago, about pairing together Adrien and Marinette. He’d have to gloat later. “I’ve got something I need to do.”

He grabbed the will he’d left on his desk, looking at it carefully before ripping it up into tiny little shreds. It wasn’t necessary anymore. For once, there was no threat.

“What was even in there?” Marinette asked as they watched the pieces fall to the floor.

“The next holder of the phoenix miraculous,” Peter said truthfully. “Even if I died, I still wanted Suluu to be…human. And when you are the phoenix holder, you can tell who could wield it. But that’s unimportant now.”

Marinette looked like she wanted to argue, like she very much wanted to know who a potential wielder could be, but she seemed to decide against it, simply shrugging as she looked at the tiny little pieces of paper on the floor.

“Speaking of which,” Peter said. “Would you two be able to give me a moment alone? I have to make good on my promise.”

His friends respectively went to go check out Adrien’s room, and Peter nudged Suluu out of his coat pocket.

“You’re not going to tell them that Felix could’ve been Helios?” Suluu asked, fluttering her tiny wings. “They would’ve loved to know that.”

“That’s an issue for another time, if it ever arises. But I don’t think it will.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you’re your own person now, Suluu.” He drew a black debit card out of his pocket and handed it to her. “As my personal therapist, you’re paid quite a hefty sum by Stark Industries. It’s all on this card, and now you’re free to go wherever you want, do whatever you want to do. You’re a free person, Suluu. And as long as I shall live, you will never be held down again. The world is now yours.”

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Suluu said, plucking the card from his hand and placing it in the back pocket of her jeans, “but you’ll have to put up with me awhile longer. I got accepted by a law school here so I won’t be going anywhere for at least the next eight years.” She gave him a sly grin and Peter had to bite down on his bottom lip to avoid smiling too hard. Secretly he hadn’t wanted Suluu to leave but it had seemed selfish to ask her to stay. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Gosh darn, just when I thought you’d finally be out of my hair,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Not a chance. May offered me a spot in your family and I intend to accept.”

“So, law school, huh?” Peter shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked on his feet. “That’s a big commitment.”

“I’m smarter than I look.”

“I never said you looked stupid, I’m just surprised you wanted to settle into routine so fast.”

“I just want to help people,” Suluu said honestly. “This seems like the best way for me to do it. Besides the whole being a god thing, but I can reach more people this way. I’m not cut out to be a doctor, but I do love arguing with people.”

“Who knows, maybe I’ll join you in a few years,” Peter mused, before frowning. “That doesn’t even sound right. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with the rest of my life.”

“Good thing you have the rest of your life to figure it out,” Suluu said. “There’s always tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, a small smile spreading across his features. “There’s always tomorrow.”

The funeral service for Gabriel Agreste was a small affair. May had flown in from New York to support Adrien, handing Peter a thick envelope right off the bat. He knew what it was, but didn’t open it. That was a matter for another time, after the funeral.

Agreste mansion had been cleared as a crime scene, minus the underground rooms, but neither Peter nor Adrien had any desire to venture down there. They’d both been sleeping in Adrien’s room since the fateful night; Peter crashing on Adrien’s couch. He’d sensed that Adrien was scared of what was to come, despite how well he hid it. Plus, Suluu had currently taken over Peter’s room and it felt weird to sleep in the same bed as her now that she was a grown woman instead of a tiny bird.

The morning of the funeral, Peter woke early and headed up to the roof to watch the sunrise. Paris was still silent and dormant beyond the gates of the house, its inhabitants sleeping, none the wiser of how much Peter’s life had changed in the past few days. Once upon a time he’d feared that change, and now he welcomed it. Like he’d told Ladybug, he couldn’t resist change and he’d stopped trying a long time ago. But now he could look at everything that was different and find the positives in it. Now Adrien was free. Sure, he’d lost both his parents but no longer would he be subject to dangerous diets, on the receiving end of cold detachment, nor be subject emotional abandonment. He’d gotten closure, and that was all Peter could focus on. The creeping light of sunrise in an otherwise dark world.

“Spiderman,” an unexpected voice called from behind him and Peter turned, surprised to see Master Fu standing on the edge of the roof.

“I didn’t think I’d see you up here, of all places,” Peter said as the little man hobbled forwards to join him seated on the edge facing the sunrise.

“You’re not the only one who likes to see the dawn of a new day. Plus, I had something to discuss with you.”

“What’s that?” Peter peered at him, but the old man’s gaze was fixed on the horizon.

“I’m going to make Marinette the new guardian of the miraculous,” he said slowly.

“When?” He’d expected it. Marinette was the only person Master Fu could have considered. Adrien would have too much responsibility of his own, now, and Marinette’s life goals were flexible enough she’d be able to keep a close eye on the magic jewellery. It was only fitting.

“Soon.” A smile tugged at the edges of lined lips. “I’ve been on this earth for a long time, Spiderman. At some point I have to retire, as I think you very well know.”

“I’m in no position to disagree.”

“There comes a time when one accomplishes all their goals and has nothing left to live for,” Master Fu said. “What do you do then?”

It took Peter a moment to realize Master Fu was _asking_ him as a proper question and not just as a rhetorical and he let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair as the first golden rays of a rosy dawn struck them.

“I suppose you find something else to live for. I mean look at it,” he waved a hand out at the city below. “It’s beautiful. You spent your whole life trying to bring it peace and now you’ve succeeded. Enjoy it. I don’t live to bring balance to the universe or whatever, despite what all the Avengers might say. I live to see the smiling faces of people when they wake up and they’re safe. We live to see the golden light of day because we know there were times the world almost went without it.”

Carefully, Peter stood up, glancing down at Master Fu only to see the man smiling up at him, tears shining in his eyes.

“You’re something remarkable, Peter Parker. I hope you always remember that.”

“No one seems to let me forget.” He dusted off his pants, glancing down at the roof below them. “I should go be with Adrien, it’s going to be a hard day for him.”

“Will you say anything? A eulogy or anything of the sort?”

Peter’s brow creased ever so slightly. “I don’t have anything good to say, really. Once he died, I could _feel_ all that malice slip away and he wasn’t evil anymore, but that doesn’t mean he never was. I think for Adrien’s sake, it’s best we all just remain silent. His parents are already gone, that’s a pain I’ve become well acquainted with, and I’ve learned there’s really nothing anyone can say to take that pain away. Sorry always feels so hollow, but any attempts at digging deeper feel impersonal.”

He turned away, squinting against the sun. “When my parents died, my uncle was there for me in every way I needed him. As a distraction, a shoulder to cry on, a support system. But never did he say empty words. I just want to be like that for Adrien.”

“And so you shall be. Already you bring the sunrise on his darkest days, Helios.”

Adrien was awake by the time Peter returned to the room, staring at the black suit that was laid out on his bed.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to face everyone,” Adrien admitted quietly at the sound of Peter’s feet gently touching the floor. He didn’t look up.

“It’ll just be you, me, Felix and your aunt, Marinette, and my aunt. You got this.” Suluu wouldn’t be there, she was leaving that evening for school and had decided it was within her best interests to avoid the funeral. Instead she’d be out shopping for things to fill her dorm with. Peter was going to miss her, and he had a feeling Adrien would too.

“Nathalie wanted to be there.” Adrien met Peter’s eyes in a teary stare. “It was up to me to make the final call about whether or not she could attend. I said no.”

The admission didn’t shock Peter. He could tell Adrien had been slowly coming to terms with the fact that Nathalie had been festering the abuse Adrien suffered at his father’s hand, and as much as his friend wanted Nathalie to be innocent she simply wasn’t. There was no way to look at the situation and ignore her part in it.

It hadn’t helped matters that the Gorilla was nowhere to be found. He’d taken off at some point during the battle and hadn’t returned. Gone were the days of Adrien’s childhood and relying on others. He’d been thrust out into the world alone.

The funeral was quiet as the caskets were buried behind the mansion, simple headstones with a hand engraved on each, reaching for each other. It bore the names of Gabriel and Émilie Agreste, the years of their life, and little inscriptions. Gabriel’s read ‘always in life’ and Émilie’s as ‘forever in death’. Felix quietly explained to Peter that it was taken from their wedding vows.

Adrien’s hand never left Marinette’s as the funeral proceeded, so Peter hung back with May and Felix. Felix’s mother was inconsolable, sobbing and dressed in a black veil that hid her face from view.

After the funeral they all sat in the house but no one spoke. It was like a heavy curtain of silence had been draped over them, preventing them from saying anything of any effect. Felix and his mother didn’t stay long, citing an appointment they couldn’t miss. Peter had seen them off while Adrien sat still in a chair, brow drawn and body rigid.

“There’s the question,” May braved cautiously, “of what to do next.”

“I don’t know,” Adrien said instantly. “I never thought of what would come next.”

“I did,” Peter said, drawing the envelope out from where he’d tucked it into his waistband, against his back, placing it in Adrien’s hands.

Marinette gave Peter a glance. She knew exactly what it was, he could tell. He’d never talked about it to her, he hadn’t even talked about it to May, but somehow it was the only right choice they could’ve made.

Adrien slid the contents of the envelope out, reading and rereading the thick sheets of paper before him. “What is this?”

“Adrien, ever since Peter introduced me to you, you’ve felt like a part of this family,” May said, placing a supportive hand on Adrien’s knee. “I can’t image how hard this must be for you, but Peter and I want you to know you still have a family. You’re not alone in this world and we want to be there for you. If this is too soon or not what you want, we can throw this envelope out.”

“Adoption papers?” Adrien’s eyes filled with tears for the first time since that morning. “You mean I-I’d be a part of your family?”

“I adopted Peter after his parents died, and I want to do the same for you. We may not understand everything you’re going through, but we’ll do our best to try.”

Adrien was crying in earnest now and he stood up, pulling May into a tight hug, burying his face into her blouse. May didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around him and rub his back soothingly, a move Peter remembered her doing many times to him.

“We’ll work everything out properly later, but I just wanted you to know right now, we’re here for you,” Peter said. “Every single step of the way, whether that step be a leap or a tiny shuffle. I just don’t want you to go through it alone.”

“Thank you,” Adrien said. “For everything. I love all three of you.”

“We love you too,” Peter said. “And we always will, irregardless.”

He and Marinette joined the hug and all together there they stood, all crying and all completely happy. More problems would arise later, and their current happiness wouldn’t necessarily be permanent, but for now, it was enough. It was enough just to stand in giant mansion, the one that had always felt so big, and realize that filling it with love was the only way to make it smaller. He’d work with Adrien to make it home from here on out, just like he’d work with Adrien and May to make them family.

It was in that moment he thought of Ned, and how much he owed to his friend back in New York who had randomly signed him up for the Paris trip, just because he thought Peter deserved that opportunity. A few months and nearly six thousand kilometres later, Peter’s life had completely changed for the better. He’d really have to thank Ned when he got the chance.

But in the end, it wasn’t about Peter. It never had been. It was about the people who’s lives he could save and improve and Adrien had just been another person he could help, and someone he’d continue to help as long as he lived. Because they were brothers now.

They’d earned that moment of blissful happiness, free from responsibility before they went back to saving the city. There would always be another bad guy to fight, eventually. And when they showed up, Ladybug and Chat Noir would fight, and Spiderman would undoubtedly be by their side. Because they were heroes, and that was their duty. And as hard as it was to be a hero, looking around at all that he’d gained, Peter couldn’t imagine any other destiny he would prefer.

Because with great power came great responsibility and great loss, but also great happiness and love too. And so Peter could live with that. They all could. They’d had to. But today there was no more loss to be had, no more responsibility to bear the weight of. Today they had time to love.

Today they were happy.

_Fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And onto the next adventure :)
> 
> While writing this story, I completely fell in love with Felix and so I had no choice but to write about him too. I’ve started another story that’ll be called “Of Star-Crossed Sardonicism” which I’ll attempt to link here as soon as I post the first chapter, but it’ll essentially be a spin-off, showcasing Felix’s life as Spiderman’s manager, Nathalie’s trial, and revisiting an event that happened in Chapter 12 of this story. Peter, Marinette, Adrien, and Suluu will make regular appearances in Felix’s life, as well as Bridgette, the fan-named initial conceptualisation of Marinette. Feel free to check it out if you guys want!!!
> 
> Link should now be down below as part of the series!!!
> 
> As always and forevermore, thank you for reading and welcoming me into this community with open arms :)


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